Obsidian
by xxDiviaxx
Summary: Georgie’s family and friends learn that Diego didn’t kill her but held her captive- when she returns she’s not the same and it's Johnny that notices. Spin loves Maxie who thinks he should be with Georgie. Dark, angst see inside for better synopsis
1. Chapter 1

Obsidian

Georgie returns, revealing that Diego didn't kill her, but kidnapped and hid her in order to make her his own. After his death the men Diego paid to keep her captive kept her for two years. Two years she won't discuss- two years that a bottomed out Johnny is determined to find out about. His infatuation grows as he realizes that Trevor is getting closer to his other secret. With her sister back, Maxie is elated and the grief of the last two years is washed away but now that she has suffered the loss of her sister she wants to make up for being so terrible to Georgie before so she tries to give Georgie the one thing she thinks she wants- Spinelli. But thanks to Georgie's 'death' Spinelli couldn't want Georgie less and Maxie more….

This story has a little more Georgie in it then Spin and Maxie but they are integral and in almost every chapter. I'm basically writing this for my own enjoyment so if you like it let me know, I'll only post it here if people are reading it. If not then I'll just keep it on my hard drive to read and write for fun. Anyway, I hope you like it!

January 2010

Johnny didn't know why he was still in Port Charles.

After all, Trevor had the business, his father was dead, Claudia was running territory in Brazil and his grand love affair with Lulu ended with her settling for Logan Hayes out of guilt. Well that and the fact she couldn't handle his hand on Sonny Corinthos' death. Then when Scott died she and Logan moved to Texas to his hometown. He hoped they were content. But only content because that was something precious Lulu wouldn't be able to live with.

Yeah, he was bitter.

Bitter enough to be sitting at a dive in the middle of the city that made Jake's look like a five-star restaurant. There were half-dressed girls with multi-colored hair and their leather clad male counterparts that littered the room drinking cheap beer and eating stale peanuts. They talked over an array of loud, punk, metal and techno music and the whooping, uncontrolled laughter of drunks and fools. He felt like he belonged. Of course he did- in a place like this everyone was broken. Their sins burned like fire while their souls froze over from the desolation. Warm it up with some liquid courage, a little painkiller to ebb away the agony of life. It worked every time, it was just every time you needed a little more to take the edge off. Edge, ledge- whatever. He didn't stand on ledges anymore. He didn't want to feel alive. He didn't want to feel anything.

When he was younger, a stupid kid doing stupid things, he had a real thing for this sweet blonde he met at some club. She was cute with a pixie cut and fishnet stockings, he remembered that her eyes were green. He got himself toasted, really toasted and tried to get a little further then she wanted. She slapped him, kneed him in the groin and went to the police. When they took him in he was raving drunkenly just like his father. It had been a dark time in his life and those dark places scared the shit of him. He kind of felt like that again. Johnny ordered another drink- scotch, he knew it would be cheap and disgusting but it suited the purpose. After all, what worthwhile drunk cared about the damn taste? Besides he was already so wasted that it went down like sunshine.

The bartender was a hot number in a black mini skirt and red halter, the tips she got from the outfit probably paid for the boob job and the bleach for her hair. She was just like everyone else, just like him, just like Lulu, just like Sonny, Claudia and Trevor. Good people, nice people, well they didn't really exist. Lulu had him fooled for a while, crafty thing that she was. But no one could wear the mask forever. After all, he had tried. He tried to be the good guy, the decent guy but what the hell, all it did was get him kidnapped by some bipolar moron with a God complex. Sonny had to go- he was as unbalanced as Anthony had been and just as ineffective. In the end the territories had to go to Trevor. The guy was evil but he was efficient and to be efficient meant less death. 'You kill when you have to, the less dirt you do the less they have on you.' He disposed of Jason Morgan, or at least thought he did, and now the war was over, until some other power hungry criminal decided he wanted what Trevor had. Whatever. It was no longer his problem. At least, not unless Trevor found out that Jason was alive and with his family somewhere- where Johnny didn't care to know. Only that stupid Spinelli kid knew. If that happened all bets were off, then it would have to be Trevor who was disposed of. He hoped that didn't happen, the mob wasn't his style anymore.

"Tequila. Two more shots."

The voice was cracked but definitely a woman's. Johnny turned his head slightly to glance at her- curious for some unknown reason. Maybe he just wanted to see someone else as worthless as he was. This bar was full of them, he drank them all in, better then one hundred proof. Shit, better then moonshine. . "Come on, girl, don't you think you've had enough?"

He noticed the guy first. He had some sort of Spanish accent and dark skin. Definitely belonged in the bar too. His dark hair was slicked back and his faded jeans were plagued with tiny holes while the nike decal on his t-shirt was cracked and light. At a closer glance Johnny decided on Mexican.

The girl he was with was not of the same descent. Her hair was a pretty bronze that hung low down her back with her skin looking slightly pale but he guessed it hadn't always been that way. She too had jeans on with tiny holes in them and a faded t-shirt that hung off an emaciated frame. Boys clothes- probably that man's clothes, a lover? A friend? They weren't standing too close to each other so probably the latter. Her eyes were dark but he couldn't discern the color of them in the poor lighting of the bar all he could see was that they were as dull and lifeless as his. "I don't think there is enough in this bar to have." She retorted with an edge to her voice. She took down the shot and hissed a breath out.

She was beautiful but not in a dull, normal way. She was the volcanic glass left after an eruption destroyed a city. She was the ash that looked like snow in the sky. He couldn't help but stare and the more he looked the more he had the unsettling feeling that he had seen her before and the more he wanted to not stop looking at her. "We need to get you home."

"Home." She repeated the word as if savoring it in her mouth. "Yes, yes of course. Home."

She downed the second shot, swayed a little bit and then shook her head. She turned to the boy and said something quietly to him.

When they left Johnny watched as the red door with the chipped paint swing shut behind them. He ordered another drink- he wasn't going home that night. There was a motel a block down. He glanced back at the bartender who was smiling at him, obviously interested- or too drunk to realize she wasn't. It didn't matter which to him and he knew it didn't matter to her.

XXX

He slept in The Faithful Friend's room.

Spinelli was staring at the ceiling of her room, not his, it didn't feel like his. Before he moved in Maxie and Mac had kept it just as Georgie had when she was alive as some sort of shrine. He knew that sometimes at night Maxie would go in and cry herself to sleep. Other people didn't know that side of Maxie, for a long time he hadn't known it either. When Jason had to go and Spinelli had nowhere to turn it was Maxie took him in, not Lulu. That still kind of stung. But it really touched him in regards to Maxie, she was letting him stay in Georgie's room, he knew what it meant to her. Mac had agreed to it because Mac wanted Maxie to smile again.

It was still very rare to see her really smile.

It had been odd the first few nights, he couldn't sleep, he kept thinking he was hearing Geoergie's voice. He searched her whole room in his insomnia, finding a mass of important things under Georgie's bed. There were old photo albums, her journal, letters from Diego and old term papers, including one from Pete Marques. From the glowing comment Spinelli guessed he tried to get her to be another notch on his bedpost. He read them all, which did nothing to help him feel comfortable in her room but it passed the time. Things had gotten better after he and Maxie took down the posters from her walls, repainted the room a deep blue and tried to make it a little less Georgie-like. That had been a hard day but Maxie said she needed to do it, she needed to move on, to live. If she didn't Georgie would never forgive her. It was funny how hard Maxie was trying to live life the way Georgie had wanted. Most of the time she couldn't pull it off but at least she was making the effort. Even with the changes it was still Georgie's room to him. Maybe because he had spent so much time in it reading her journal.

Incidentally her journal is what sparked his love for Maxie Jones. Because Georgie described what he saw and, unlike his Lulu infatuation, he then knew he wasn't making up reasons to love her. In fact he had memorized one of the passages on the subject.

Lulu thinks that Maxie is just bitter and hateful. She isn't, that's not what it's about at all. Maxie is guarded, she's hurt and she's scared so she lashes out before people can hurt her. She goes after people she can't have and things she knows will end so she's not surprised when everything falls to pieces. Maxie can't hope anymore and after all she's been through, I can't blame her. I just wish that Lulu, no, that everyone, could know the Maxie Mac and I know. Sure she's difficult and moody but I have always known that she loves me, she's never let me believe otherwise no matter our argument. She's beautiful, I just wish she'd stop being so mean so that people could see that beauty. 

There had been more like that and each time he read one he felt a little closer to Maxie, realized his feelings a little more. At first it had only been an attraction, after all, Maxie was probably the most beautiful girl on earth and Spinelli had twenty-twenty vision so he noticed quite a bit. Any emotion that went beyond that he thought was simply imagined, like it had been with Lulu. It was ironic that he had to thank Georgie for that when she had wanted to be with him when she was alive. But then, Georgie had been a good person and she would have wanted happiness for both he and Maxie. At least that's what he told himself. It had to be true because although he hadn't known Georgie long he felt like he knew her well and her journal, her innermost thoughts were bright, hopeful and full of the belief that people deserved second chances.

It took him a minute to realize he wasn't alone but when he did Spinelli found himself sputtering. She was staring at him with dark, solemn eyes with circles beneath them. It was her but it wasn't, she looked like a tired worn out shell of Georgie Jones- but it couldn't be because Georgie was dead and ghosts were not supposed to look like that. The window was open behind her and it blew her t-shirt away from her body and her lighter brown hair in her face. She was thinner then before, sickly and broken seeming. "It c-can't be."

"Spinelli." Her voice sounded like dry leaves. "I'm sorry- I wasn't aware you'd be here."

He blinked, "is it…is it really you?" What else could he say? He couldn't even think properly. He stepped towards her, reaching a hand out, touching her cheek. It was flesh beneath his fingers. She was corporeal. The wind left his chest, all he could do was stare. She didn't say anything, she just looked around the room and began to walk around it. He tried to read her expression. Did she feel forgotten? Was she angry they changed it? "I should go…get the brazen blonde one."

Confusion marred her face then faded, "Lulu's here?"

He shook his head, "Maxie is- we're, well, we're friends…"

Georgie nodded and smiled, but it didn't comfort him.

In truth Spinelli couldn't get out of the room fast enough. As glad as he was that his friend was back, as happy as it made him, her presence was unnerving. Maybe the joy would set in after the shock faded. He hoped so. He hoped it wasn't some twisted fascination or hallucination or any kind of ation. He didn't want to be crazy, he wanted Georgie to be alive.

He found Maxie reading a magazine in her room. She was lying on her stomach on the bed, head propped up with her hands, swinging her legs from the knee down back and forth in the air. She didn't look up, "What's up Spinelli?"

"Um, you're not going to believe this, Brazen Blonde One."

She swung her legs onto the floor and stared at him, "you beat Tomb Takers II?"

He shook his head, "although that would be amazingly wicked- no. I have not beat tomb takers II, however I am sure given my skills-" He stopped himself, what the hell was he doing? "Maxie, you have to see this and…and get Mac. You need to get Mac."

"Spinelli, what the hell is going on?"

"Just get Mac and come into my room, okay? Trust me on this."

Maxie nodded. She trusted him. It made his heart skip a beat every time he realized that. Getting trust from Maxie Jones smacked of getting gold from a leprechaun. After she bounded down the stairs, Spinelli returned to his room, half-expecting Georgie not to be there and this whole mess being part of his overactive imagination. But she was there, sitting on his bed, her own journal in her lap. She looked up, "did you get them?"

Instead of answering he launched himself into an apology. "I read that, I'm so, so , resurrected one but I couldn't satiate my curiosity- I didn't think you were coming back and-"

"Chill." Her voice took a hardness to it, "I'm not angry."

"Oh."

"Did you tell them I'm here?"

He shook his head. They sat there in silence until the door opened and a squeal followed. It was Maxie and she launched herself at Georgie without question, without surprise. She was blubbering about miracles and Mac followed suit, hugging her, kissing the top of her head. They asked her jumbled questions on how it happened and then dismissed them with happy tears and confessions that it didn't matter that it happened. Their tears were flowing freely, they held her and held her.

And were too happy to notice that she wasn't holding them back.


	2. Chapter 2

**RedDragen**: Thanks so much! I hope this chapter lives up to the beginning!

**SEEKER-2000**: I appreciate that, thanks! Sorry it took a bit to update!

**soulache**: Thanks! I hope you like this chapter!

**Sting Ray Girl**: And thanks to you too! 

**Average Everyday Sane Psycho**: Danke! I hope this won't disappoint!

**Jude136**: sorry I made you wait and thanks!

**starbright**: Aw! Thanks! I'm so glad you liked it!

**LuckyandSamTrueLove**: Gracias! Sorry I didn't update sooner!

**SonnyAngel**: It may be a bit before she tells all, but yeah, she's very sad and on a darker path. Thanks!

**ghpcfan12**: Thanks so much! I'm enjoying writing the story a lot!

Another thanks to all of you you're so nice for taking the time to reply. This chapter would have been out sooner (especially with all the nice feedback) but I had a family emergency that needed my attention. Now all is cleared up and I'm back to writing! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks again! (I know, I ran out of ways to say it, lol!)

**Chapter Two**

Spinelli's hand was warm on her back as they sat in the hospital, waiting to see Georgie. It had taken a little bit to get her there. Luckily Mac would not rest until she was taken care of and although Georgie had been more then reluctant she gave in under Mac's glare and agreed as long as neither Robin nor anyone close to her would be her doctor. Robin understood and said that she should take charge and regain the control back in her life. 

Maxie just ignored it all, blissfully happy. So happy that when Spinelli mentioned he called Lulu to tell her about Georgie she almost let it slip by without reacting. Almost. "You. Did. What?" 

He shrugged, "I called everyone."

"Dillon?"

She felt the air leave her lungs. Dillon. She didn't want Dillon to come. Or Lulu. Especially not Lulu. That would mean she'd have to share Georgie with the two people that hurt her the most- sans Diego of course. "Are they both coming?"

He nodded, "The Blonde One arrives with the Crabby Commando next week, Film Guy already booked a flight for tomorrow." 

Maxie glared and folded her arms across her chest, "what were you thinking? Georgie doesn't need all of these people hanging around her, asking questions, taking all her time. Let her readjust!" Shaking her head, she didn't give him a chance to reply, instead she whisked herself into Georgie's room, not caring about the doctor in there or not. What she found was Dr. Ian Devlin talking somberly to, what looked like, a panicked Georgie. Her sister was wearing Mac's large black sweat-suit that dwarfed her and made her sickly pallor even paler. The commonness of the white room and the doctor's white coat matching it all did not fit Georgie at all. Maxie hated seeing her there. "What the hell did you do to her?" She barked out, already in a rage over the Lulu and Dillon situation. "Get the hell away from my sister- _now_." 

"Maxie," Georgie began in a quiet but meaningful voice, she furrowed her brow, "Dr. Devlin did nothing wrong, he's just trying to do his job."

"His job is _not_ to freak you out. I definitely think Robin should be doing this," she glared at Dr. Devlin angrily, "don't you realize what she has been through? Look at what they did to her! She's so thin and so sick! And then you think just because you're some hoity toity doctor you can scare her half to death? Well I have news for you Dr. Devil, you're going to go do something mad-doctor-like somewhere_else_." 

"Aphrodite, oh Aphrodite will you just listen to me!" Spinelli had followed her in, looking pleadingly at her. "I'm sorry that I caused you unhappiness and it wasn't at all my intention to pressure the Wise One after such an ordeal but-"

"Did you just call me Dr. Devil?" Dr. Devlin asked, his forehead creased as he interrupted Spinelli without pause.

Georgie sighed, "I think she's been hanging around with Spinelli a lot while I was gone- I guess the nicknames thing is contagious?" 

"Aphrodite, please just _listen_-"

"STOP!" Maxie yelled, putting a halt to the two conversations going on at once. "This is chaos. Everyone _out_ of this room, _now_. I want to spend time with my sister." she glared at Spinelli who downcast his eyes and walked out then at Dr. Devlin who didn't budge. "Are you deaf?" 

Dr. Devlin looked at Georgie, "think about what I said, alright?"

She nodded and then smiled at Maxie, "seriously, he wasn't hurting me. He's a good doctor- he just needs to work on his bed-side manner, methinks." She looked back at the doctor. "Maybe you'll think about what I said, Doctor?"

"Trust me, I have everything you said memorized."

Maxie looked from one to the other then got even more sour. Were they flirting? No, no that wasn't allowed. Not so soon. Georgie couldn't handle a relationship, she needed time to be herself again, to be home with her family. "You're totally flirting with your patient! Oh that's just skeevy." 

"Shut up, Maxie." Georgie muttered. Maxie smiled, the anger melting away. It was just like old times. Watching as the doctor left She sat down on the corner of her sisters bed, not facing her. There was no awkwardness, it almost felt like Georgie had never left. "you used to encourage me to flirt with older men- remember Pete?"

Maxie chuckled, "you know, after you…" she trailed off and then left it blank, "well, he visited me at the boutique, you know? He had been out of town when it all happened. He dedicated his book to you." She remembered that day, how lost she was. She had come into work drunk, almost got fired. Pete came in like some kind of knight in shining armor with a book to give her. Inside it read : 'to my muse- Georgie Jones.' He had already dedicated it before she died. Had it been afterward, he explained, he would have called her an angel. "I think he really cared about you, Georgie."

"Maybe that's why he didn't try and sleep with me." Georgie offered, a smile playing at her lips. "Now why are you so mad at Spin, Maxie?"

"He called The Bitchy Blonde One," she smirked at her title for Lulu, "and Dillon. Now they're coming home." She watched Georgie's expression carefully for any kind of bad reaction. "I wish he didn't. And I don't think you should be dating any Petes or Pete-like people either. You need to focus on getting better, Georgie."

Georgie put her hand on Maxie's, "thanks for trying to protect me. But it had to happen sooner or later. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be- or at least, I better be anyway. And don't worry about Dr. Devlin, I think he was just being nice because I look like death warmed over."

Maxie felt tears coming to her eyes again. She wasn't sure when she cried most, when Georgie died or when she came back. The thought of her sister being locked away like that, for two years, it was almost too much to bear. It gave her this searing need to protect her as she never had before. It made her want to be the sister she should have been all along. "I wish the doctors and cops would leave you alone." 

Georgie shrugged but her eyes flickered with darkness, "I gave them all the information I had- which wasn't much. I mean, I…" she closed her eyes and then reopened them. "Maxie, what I need to do is tell you what happened because…because I owe you the biggest apology- I think I owe Dillon one to."

"You owe Dillon a swift kick in the balls, _that_ is what you owe Dillon." She muttered angrily, but quieted and let Georgie continue.

"I seriously thought it was Coop who did those murders, Maxie." Georgie confessed in a low, coarse tone. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I thought that and….and when I woke up, God knows how long he had me drugged but, when I woke up and saw Diego I thought- I thought he had saved me. I thought it was a miracle, I thought…" Her hands were trembling and she couldn't get the words out. "I was so happy that he was alive that- that, well, it doesn't matter now. I'm just sorry."

Maxie turned and hugged her sister, tightly, maybe too tightly. But it felt so good to have her back again, it felt so right. "Georgie don't apologize- or rather, if you have to everything is forgiven. Whatever, whichever. I'm just so happy to have you back- I-I was lost without you, you know."

"You had Spinelli, he's a good guy."

Maxie nodded. She didn't really want to talk about Spinelli, especially not with Georgie. Not when it felt like a betrayal. Everything involving that endearing nerd just confused her. Only one thing was for certain- whatever feelings she _thought _she had were to be squashed. Georgie was home. Georgie liked him. That was the end of the whole ordeal. 

Georgie was smiling, "I'm glad he's living with you guys and not Jason anymore." 

"Georgie, you didn't know?" She raised her eyebrows, "of course you don't. Georgie- Jason Morgan is dead. Johnny Zacharra killed him. He killed Sonny too…Carly and Elizabeth fled the country to hide from Trevor and Johnny."

She let out a small shaky breath, "that's…" She didn't finish, "and they're not after Spinelli?"

Maxie shook her head, "no, not at all. Mac stepped in. Oh Georgie, you would have been so proud! He went straight to Trevor and threatened him with the law, with violence, with everything. No one was going to hurt Spinelli because he had a piece of you in him."

"That's good." Georgie gave a small smile, "and Spinelli was just trying to help, Maxie so don't be too hard on him, okay?"

Maxie forced a smile. It seemed all those feelings for Spinelli had lasted That was good. That was fine. She took a deep breath. For the first time she'd do something completely selfless for Georgie. She'd force those pesky feelings for Spinelli out of her head and give him to her sister. that was what was meant to be. "Hey, Maxie, can you do me a favor? Can you grab me some real food? I can't…I can't really take too much of this…"

Her name had been Cherry- like from the book he had to read in eighth grade called The Outsiders. He hated the girl from that book. It was morning and he hated this Cherry now too. It wasn't fair of course and so he was polite but distant as they got dressed and said their goodbyes. "It was a fun time," she told him before she left, "but I know who you are- lose my number."

He smiled, she hadn't even given it to him.

After she left he was by himself, he had the room for another couple of hours but it was worthless staying in it. He didn't sleep until he drank himself into passing out. Hung over or not he could still get some work done. The key part of living in an apartment above where he worked was the ability to shower and be in his office within ten minutes of waking up. The downfall was that at night the club was pretty loud and so sleep was non-existent until after two in the morning. 

It was all right, he liked nights anyway. 

The Cherry girl had looked nothing like Lulu- but her voice was kind of the same. He hadn't noticed consciously- or maybe he had. He had been too drunk to remember. Too bad he could never get drunk enough to forget that night. 

_Lulu wasn't smiling anymore. Her eyes were red, she had been crying. His first instinct was to hold her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright. But it vanished quickly. Nothing was alright and she didn't want him to hold her anymore. Every day the distance between them grew a little more. She belonged to Logan, she always would it seemed. "Tell me you didn't do it, Johnny, tell me you didn't kill Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan."_

_"I didn't kill Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan." It was a lie and they both knew it. _

_She wiped a tear away. He regretted causing the tears. But he regretted a lot of things, that had always been the problem. He lived too fast, too hard for normal people to keep up with. She thought she wanted adventure, excitement, the bad boy. Or maybe not- maybe she thought he was stable or sensitive deep inside. Whatever she thought it certainly wasn't what she was thinking while she was looking at him right then. "You did."_

_"Fine."_

_"I'm leaving…with Logan." _

_He nodded, already half-expecting it to happen. She wasn't who he thought she was either, he guessed. She wasn't the muse made of moonlight, she was just a pretty girl full of life. Maybe he thought he could have some of that life to make up for what he lacked. It didn't matter. "I guess I should say goodbye then."_

_"Johnny I-"_

_"Please, just don't." Johnny shook his head, "Goodbye Lulu."_

_"Johnny, I loved you." She went on relentlessly, "I did, those feelings weren't fake and I know you loved me too- I know you did but I can't be with you. You killed Jason and he was my friend…" She wiped away a few more tears, "and…I know if I stay I' won't be able to stay away from you, so I have to go."_

_"Then go. It's fine." He couldn't keep the hollow sound from his voice. He felt empty. Not just because of Lulu but because he could still hear Sonny screaming in his head. He could still see the blood spattered on Claudia's skin. He could still smell death wherever he went. "I hope you have a good life."_

_"You…too."_

_She turned._

_He couldn't help it, for some reason he had to watch her walk away._

Johnny opened his eyes, returning to the dirty motel room. It had been better that she left, she wasn't who he had thought she was anyway. He opened the door and started towards the parking lot where his car was. Unfortunately his car…was no longer there. Idiot thieves. "Damn." He shoved his cold hands into his pockets and began to walk towards a bus stop. He could always buy another car- and once the those idiots looked in the glove box to see who owned their freshly stolen vehicle, well, his name still inspired a great deal of fear. He just wished he could be there to see it. He stopped short of where he was going, seeing the girl from the night before, wearing a pair of huge sweats and a man's jacket, in the parking lot of the bar. The wind ripped her hair from side to side and flung her clothing all over as it was too big for her body. She had her arms wrapped around herself. He followed her into the building- some kind of compulsion he couldn't contain. 

She was already at the bar talking to Joe, ordering he guessed. Joe was a younger guy with his hair in fire engine red liberty spikes and he usually wore leather. He used to wear piercings in his lip, five on the right, two on the left but after getting two ripped out in a bar fight he left piercings to fashion plates. 

When he got closer he could hear what Joe was saying. "I really wish I could hire you, I do. But we don't need a dish washer- we could use a bartender."

"No, that's okay. I'll just have some southern comfort on the rocks, I guess."

The bar was empty sans those two and the quiet made it less comfortable instead of more. He yearned for the loud distracting music and conversation. All the quiet did was allow him to think about things he didn't want to and remember things he'd rather forget. 

"I'll pay." Johnny spoke up, taking the seat next to her, "and make it two, will you? My car got stolen- it's already a crappy day."

She glanced at him nervously but didn't say anything, just took the drink down when she got it and made a sour face. She ordered another, then one for him and he took down his drink. "Slow down there, kids, it's only two in the afternoon."

She stared up at him with those wide eyes but didn't reply. They were the color of a doe's eyes, with the same amount of fear and gentleness. After she finished her second drink she asked for a beer and then walked over to a table to sit down. 

She was different, as lame as it sounded he thought the words anyway. She wasn't like other girls- none that he had ever seen. There was some other-worldliness about her, like she was only half there, where the rest of her was piqued his curiosity. He had never been shy and so he brazenly sat down at her table. "I'm Johnny Zacharra."

"I know who you are." She took a swig from her beer, still not looking at him. He followed her gaze to one dirty window in the back of the bar. It barely let any light through. Another drink, her expression didn't change, she barely moved. 

He swallowed, "then I guess you have one up on me, huh? I don't know your name."

Her first smile but it was marred with bitterness. "It's not very important."

"Maybe I think it is."

She finally looked at him, "call me Anna," she offered , sullen expression even darker. "It's as good as anything." Her gaze flickered to his, maybe to see if he believed her. They both took it for the lie that it was. At least it was something he could call her. They were quiet but it wasn't awkward and he liked that. She didn't seem to need conversation and she didn't seem annoyed that he was sitting with her. There was nothing to be said. 

She took another sip of her beer, the sound of the bottom of the bottle hitting the table echoed in his brain. There was no music playing, Joe wasn't bustling about and if Johnny strained he could hear the rustle of her clothing as he chest moved. There was a stillness around them, a calmness, like the whole world was dead and they were all that was left. The truth was, neither of them was very alive. He wondered, briefly, who had really died that night- Sonny Corinthos or the guy at the bar at two in the afternoon?

It wasn't a comfortable thought. He shifted in his chair and tried to not even blink. The second his eyes were closed he'd see Sonny, and every other person he killed, in his head. "I need another drink."

She looked down at her bottle. "I'll have another too."

XXX

"She didn't give us much to go on." Lucky told Mac apologetically. "Just that she remembers being attacked in the park and when she woke up she was in, what looked like, a hospital room. Diego was there and at first she thought he saved her but later realized he was the text message killer. He drugged her again and she woke up in another room." Lucky flipped a page in his notebook, "various men would bring food in for her and then leave again. There was a shower, a bathroom, movies, books to read. She tried many times to escape but could not."

"Did she mention Diego again?"

"Not at all, not even that he was conspicuous by his absence or anything. She just said that she finally managed to escape only to find she wasn't the only one locked up. She and this Mike left together. He stayed in Mexico."

Mac nodded. "They had my little girl locked up all that time."

"Have you called Felicia?"

"I can't get a hold of her," Mac sighed and sat down on the chair in the waiting area. Spinelli was next to him, watching them both carefully but pretending to be playing on his lap top. "I don't want to tell Georgie that her mother isn't coming." 

Lucky grimaced, "it's tough. Is Maxie still in there with her?"

Mac shook his head, "she went to get Georgie some real food. Hell, she looks like they starved her. I wonder what else happened to her in there?"

"She didn't say they hurt her or anything but…you know, when I was locked up that was traumatic enough Mac. I think keeping a close eye on her is a good idea. I told Maxie the same thing." 

The conversation drifted to problems at the station after that and Spinelli found himself bored with it. So he decided to check up on The Wise One, see if she needed anything. See her face one more time just to make sure she didn't disappear or that this wasn't all some insane dream. When she died he had wondered what could have been with her. Sure, a part of him still wondered a little but it wasn't nearly as strong as his feelings for Maxie. Well, that was a useless dream. Aphrodite didn't bother herself with jesters and clowns. 

Sighing, he pushed the door open….to find an empty bed.

XXX

"So, Dr. Devlin, how is Georgie feeling?" Robin asked.

He didn't look up from her chart, "you know I'm not discussing her with you- she's a patient." He flipped the page, then back one. Something wasn't making sense. Her story wasn't coinciding with the damage done to her body. "So please stop asking."

"She's my cousin," Robin argued, "and we're all very worried about her."

He looked up, "worry to someone else. I've got rounds."

He ignored her scowl and walked over to the nurse's station, asking Nadine to check on a few patients. She was a sweet girl, not terribly interesting. "Dr. Devlin, your girlfriend called." The Nurse's Aid Don told him as he walked past the desk, not taking the time to leave any further detail on the message. He suppressed a sigh, why did she call him at work? He was getting bored with her. He always got bored with them. She'd have to wait for his call. There were patients to tend to. 

"Doctor, Georgie Jones is gone." Nadine rushed up to the desk, her expression pained. 

Dr. Devlin groaned. Why did people have to be so difficult?

XXX

"To Joe's." Johnny raised his shot glass. Southern blues- it seemed fitting. 

"To Joe's," she repeated dully. They clinked glasses and downed the shot quickly. It went down easy, the blues always had come quick to him. A silent chuckle followed his dark little thought. How self-pitying, how…Ric Lansing. He looked back up into her sad eyes- someone could see the world in eyes like that, all the pain and the misery that every poor sap suffered through. More importantly, he saw himself there. She was staring back at him. He wondered what she was thinking, did she wonder why he was there? Did she know everything about his family or just the glorified parts? Right then he wanted her to know, he wanted her to know all of it like she was some kind of priest who could absolve him of the unforgivable. He could see it in his head, she would listen, her eyes would widen in surprise at what he'd done but she'd understand, she'd get it, she'd get _him_.

Funny, he thought he was too dead to dream. 

And that was what it was, just a dream. Because no one would, no, no one _could_ understand. 

"I should go home." She began to stand, her eyes lingered on the table yearningly. She didn't want to go or maybe it was just his imagination. "People worry."

"It must be nice to be worried about."

She closed her eyes, expression full of agony. "Not when they have reason to."

Spinelli watched as the flakes fell from the sky, quickly accumulating on the ground already. By tomorrow there would be three inches, by the next week even more. A blizzard was coming, or so the weathermen thought. Nobody could really know, after all, mother nature was as fickle as human beings were. 

Hands inside his jacket he kept walking down the street, Aphrodite had asked him to help search for The Wise One and so he was. Sure, he was searching in the bad parts of town, places where she would never go but it was worth a shot, besides everyone else got the usual haunts. 

He kicked a rock down the street and let his mind wander to his own problems, like how the hell was he going to tell Aphrodite that she rocked his world? It seemed impossible. She was so…out of his league- no, not even in the same game. Impossible. Harder to crack then the CIA main frame…

No, harder to crack then Bill Gates' computer….

Worse.

He kicked the rock again, it went rolling down the hill, clinking off a toppled over garbage can and landing in the road. _Maxie_, he would say, using her name to show how serious he really was, _we've been friends for a long time now and I just want you to know that it has been the best friendship I've ever had but…_

No, lame.

_Maxie, you are the most beautiful, amazing girl-_

Nope.

_You are sex._

He winced, that wasn't very romantic. 

So what was he going to say and worse, if he said it would he lose her forever? He didn't want to be dramatic but, a world without Maxie sucked. He knew that because he lived it. With Maxie everything was different. He felt important, he felt, cool. The only other time he had felt really cool was when Georgie was alive and dropping by just to see him. Of course, Georgie was alive again…or she never died but…

It wasn't the same. It was Maxie that he wanted.

He looked up and frowned. There was Georgie, walking quickly down the street, her head bowed. "Hey! Hey! Wise One!" He ran forward, the cold air filling his lungs deeply as he tried to catch up with her. She turned, smiled but he could tell it was forced. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the hospital"

"Pizza." She shrugged, "There was a place here, Dillon and I really loved it. Right down the street over there, it was called Osso's Pizza…" She trailed off, frowning, "or maybe I remembered wrong."

He shook his head, "no, no, it was there. Osso's closed down last year."

There was no response, she just looked past him. 

"Maxie's really worried about you."

She met his gaze once more, "oh, well. I really wanted pizza- and," she sighed, "I just didn't want to be in that little room anymore, you know?" 

He understood, who wouldn't? She was trapped in a room for two years. "Hey- speaking of rooms, I'm really sorry about me changing your room so much…" He trailed off and bit his lip.

She chuckled, "don't be, I was dead. People needed to move on. I'd be sorrier if they hadn't. And don't worry, I'm going to ask Mac if I could just use the attic as my room. At least for the next few days. I don't really want to live there, I need my own space and I have that money I was saving up to go to Europe- I was the only one who knew where it was so it's probably still there."

"I don't think Maxie would want that," he warned quietly. He didn't want that either. What Georgie needed was her family, her friends, a support system after such a traumatic event. "And do you think it's a good idea?"

"Of course I do. I think it's the best idea. I need to be out on my own, doing my own thing, like normal people." She smiled again, he didn't see any of her in the smile, not the old her anyway. "I need to be…a normal person, that's what I need. Yes," she let out a breath, "just the normal Georgie Jones…"


	3. Chapter 3

**RedDragen: **Thanks so much! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

**lily94:** There are a few clues in this chapter and the next.

**SEEKER-2000: **Thanks! More confused feelings in this one, I assure you, hehe

**Average Everyday Sane Psycho: **Thanks!! It's good to be back!

**starbright:** Aww! Thanks! I hope you like this chapter too!

**Smuffin23:** Wow!! That's quite a compliment, thanks so much!!

**MercuryMan:** I'm a huge angst fan! Glad to see you are too and thanks!!

And it is time for another chapter of my little Georgie and Johnny tale! Hope you continue to read and enjoy and thanks so much for your responses! They are greatly appreciated!

**Chapter Three**

She was trying. She was trying really, _really_ hard. After all, leaving the hospital to go drinking wasn't a normal thing to do. She had worried everyone, she had disappointed them. Hadn't she hurt them enough?

Georgie looked around the attic, her new room, remembering what it was like to be herself. She had been Georgie Jones- good student, loyal friend, caring sister…

The attic used to be cluttered, full of odds and ends from the Spencers, from the Scorpios and now all of that was pushed to one side. The other side was her bed and dresser- she didn't have much else anymore. They had given her things to charity. Because that was what she would have wanted, she knew that. "I'm Georgie Jones," she reminded herself, "I definitely would have wanted them to move on." And she did. She really did. But now where did it leave her? The world had turned, it had kept going and she had been…

No. She wasn't going back there. Her pulse was already racing, the panic was rising in her throat, the walls were closing in. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm really, really fine." The assurances meant nothing. She wasn't fine.

For two years she wasn't Georgie Jones.

And now she was again.

"I'm Georgie Jones." She repeated it again, she tried another way. "Hi, I'm Georgie Jones."

She turned to the dresser with the mirror on top of it and smiled painfully at the reflection. She hadn't seen herself for two years. They hadn't given her mirrors. They. Him. Whatever, she didn't want to think about it. "Stop thinking about it." Saying it aloud didn't help like she thought it would.

She took a step forward, towards the reflection that wasn't hers. Certainly she didn't have that emaciated face and weak pallor. She had once been full of life, her skin sun-kissed and dark. "Hello there, who am I? My name is Anna…"

"I mean Georgie." She winced.

Johnny Zacharra. Why had she given him that name? The last four letters of her name, but it was more then that. Anna was strength, Anna was Robin's mother. "Anna would have escaped from them sooner," she told the mirror, "Anna would have fought harder. Anna would have known what to do." She touched the glass, staring into her own dark, disenchanted eyes. "Georgie Jones was smart- so why didn't she figure out how to get away sooner?"

And why had she bothered hanging out with Johnny anyway? She knew who he was, what he was. He thought he was reformed but she knew better. She knew that there was no such thing as reform. People didn't change and she would never make that mistake again. _Never._

But she had changed- hadn't she?

Her hair was longer, her eyes were colder, her face was more serious. She didn't trust people anymore. She was lonely and sad and scared.

She had changed. Not for the better. Maybe that was it, people could only change for the worse. It was the only explanation.

He was smiling at her. He was really there. Without thinking she threw her arms around his neck. "Diego!" she cried out, squeezing his neck. "Oh Diego, it's really you!"

She opened her eyes, stared at the mirror.

A second later she had thrown it across the room and was listening to the beautiful sounds of glass shattering.

Maxie was startled. Without hesitating she was running up the stairs and into the attic where her sister _insisted_ on staying _temporarily. _She wanted to move out, so soon? It wasn't a good idea. She was very worried about Georgie and leaving her to herself was not the answer to anything.

Maxie climbed the familiar staircase and opened the attic door to see Georgie against the dresser, pushing it to the side of the room. She looked up, "sorry, the mirror fell when I was moving it."

"Why were you moving furniture by yourself, Georgie? You know I'd make someone help you."

Her sister chuckled and shook her head, "I'm not fragile, Maxie. I was locked in a tiny room for two years- there wasn't much else to do but push ups and sit ups. I mean, there were books but I read them all three times each. It gets a little monotonous."

The levity in her tone made Maxie frown, "it's not funny, Georgie."

She shrugged, "I guess not. Anyway, sorry about the mirror."

"It's okay. We'll just get you a new one when I take you clothes shopping." Maxie looked around the room, "and maybe some wall decorations."

Georgie shrugged, "why? I'm just leaving. Hey, you could help me apartment shop. How about that?" She gave the dresser one last shove and then brushed her hands together. Still moving, she started picking up pieces of the glass. "I definitely have enough for an apartment on Cortlandt street, at least for four or five months. Hopefully I find a job before then."

"Why not just stay here and work at Kelly's?" Maxie asked immediately, "rent free! And you can go back to school."

"I'm going back to school," Georgie asserted, "but I want my own place. Somewhere I can go in and out as I please, not answering to anyone. It's important to me." For a second her eyes unfocused, like she was thinking about something else. But a smile chased it away. "I missed you, Maxie- even if you are a pain in my butt."

Reaching over, Maxie pulled Georgie from the pieces of glass on the floor and hugged her tightly. "Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me, Georgie. Having you back- it's like this miracle, you know? A real miracle and I don't feel like I deserve it."

"Hey," Georgie pushed back to look at her face, "you deserve good things, Maxie. You do. Okay?" She pushed a piece of her hair back and touched her sisters cheek, "besides, I had to come back. Someone has to keep you on your toes."

Maxie laughed, "and although Spin tries, he's definitely no you."

They stood there for a moment, enjoying their time together, smiling. Georgie began to pick up the glass pieces again and Maxie walked over to get an empty box to put them in. "I'm glad you were there for Spinelli when Jason died. He really cared about him."

"I'm not sure how there I was." Maxie muttered, "he was really together afterwards, really strong. I was the one who was still a mess over losing you. I thought he'd go after Johnny Zacharra too but he just didn't. And now the guy doesn't even work for the mob. For the last year he's run this hot little club called Z's in town."

Gerogie dropped a few pieces of glass in the box but otherwise remained silent.

"He was a really weird guy, I mean, Spinelli used to tell me about the things he did. He had a temper, he hurt this one girl but later, when Spinelli went to talk to her, she just said it was a party that got out of hand. She said he apologized later, whatever. I tried to tell Spin she was probably too afraid to come forward but he insisted that she wasn't. She was just a nice, honest girl." Maxie went on in her stream of consciousness way, almost forgetting her sister was even in the room. "Still, he killed Jason, Sonny and some other mobster in another family and Spinelli did nothing. It made no sense."

Georgie cleared her throat, "I see."

"I still can't believe he got away with it all. I mean, he killed a person. More then one person!"

"Yeah," Georgie repeated dully, "and killing is wrong."

XXX

"Have you spoken to Trevors lately?"

Claudia was chuckling on the other end of the phone. As she should, they had duped Trevor pretty well and in the end received quite a bit of money for no work at all. Now he was dealing with the chaotic mob life in Port Charles and Claudia had more power then anyone could dream of. Not too shabby. "Nope and I think it's for the best. I haven't been in the mood for his bull."

"_Hey- is that music in the background, where are you?" _

He looked around Joe's, he hadn't even noticed the badly produced punk song playing in the background. He had gotten pretty good at tuning that kind of thing out. "I'm at a bar- yes, yes, I'm at a bar and it's before five pm, no I'm not drunk and yes, I swear that I'm fine." He lied about not being drunk, the room was swaying.

"Fine people don't hang out in bars by themselves in the afternoon. What are you doing, John?"

What was he going to say? He decided on the truth. "I'm waiting for a girl who gave me a fake name and no number. She's been here the last two days, I'm hoping she'll come in again."

"You're waiting for a barfly?"

He could almost see his sister's shocked face, followed by a raised eyebrow. If she had been next to him she would have punched him lightly on the shoulder. Claudia was the closest thing he had to a loving relationship with anyone. It didn't say much, they were too troubled to know what normal was. "It wasn't so long ago you used to be a barfly" he reminded her in his best smug voice. "She's the only person, _besides you, _that I've had any interest in talking to in over a year and a half, Claud."

"There are plenty of girls that would talk to you."

He laughed bitterly, "that's not usually what they want from me." It was the sad, annoying truth. The girls wanted a night of danger, a good lay but afterwards? Well afterwards they were gone. It had been suiting him fine up until he saw _her_. "So how are things with this new guy?"

"He treats me like a queen. So for now it's okay."

"Tell him you want to be treated like an empress instead." He recommended with a smile, "or else you'll leave him at the bottom of the river."

"I'll get right on that, little brother." There was a pause, "I have to go, take care of yourself, okay?"

He smiled, "okay. You too."

He hung up the phone and looked around the bar.

He had never taken Lulu here, it had been his own place, somewhere he could go think where people didn't really bother him. He wondered if that was how Anna saw the bar- did she come there to escape like he did? He wondered what she was like outside the bar. Was she as solemn and careful as she was with him? Did he scare her?

He should. He scared himself.

_"Do you ever think about what it would be like if we could just ditch everything here and run away?" Lulu asked, her face hopeful and soft, like an angels. His angel. "You wouldn't have to worry about all the violence or about your family. It could just be us- you and me, forever."_

_He pulled her more closely to him, "you know I can't do that."_

_"But Johnny-"_

_His hands dropped away from her, "my family needs me right now, Lulu. Maybe after all of this is done…"_

_"And when will that be?"_

_"I don't know," He blasted, "maybe you could go ask Sonny to stop being an inept, power hungry pig and then things can finally work out, okay?" Glaring at her, Johnny stood and walked away before his temper caused an even further rift between them._

He sighed, one fight of many. "Can I get a refill, Cherry?"

She looked daggers at him but refilled the cup and he smiled sweetly back. Why she was mad, he didn't know. Everything that happened, she wanted to happen. She wanted him to not call her- was he supposed to avoid the bar for her all together? Yeah. Right. It didn't plague his thoughts for long, she wasn't that important.

XXX

_"I can't make it for another couple of weeks, Spinelli."_

He didn't groan, a part of him didn't want Lulu to come back, it would only piss Maxie off. He really didn't want her bringing her stupid boyfriend either. Logan looked at Maxie like she was an ice-cream sundae. "That's fine. Georgie isn't going anywhere."

_"I still can't believe she's really alive."_

"Well she is." He replied, keeping his voice carefully neutral. He had suspicions about the Wise One's return, something was off about it, something was off about her. Maxie didn't see it. He corrected the thought immediately. Maxie didn't want to see it, she wanted her sister to be okay. He wanted that too but didn't see that happening after two years of captivity. He had read once that after a prisoner was inside long enough he just sought to go back after his release, it was all he knew. Maybe that was why she wanted to move out, into her own place. She was used to the solitude.

_"I have a surprise for everyone when I get back."_

"Surprise?" He asked, "Lulu, that might not be such a good idea with everything that's going on-"

_"Don't be ridiculous. Of course it's a good idea! I have to go, I'll talk to you later."_

He gave a half-hearted goodbye.

XXX

Georgie walked into the bar, she was wearing clothes that fit this time. Well, they kind of fit. They were clothes left in the attic, she wasn't sure who they belonged to though. She was wearing a black button down men's shirt that must have belonged to one skinny man for it hugged the curves of her breasts and a pair of blue jean bell bottoms that were form fitting. She only had to hem the arms of the shirt which had been pretty convenient.

Mac and Maxie had donated all of her clothes. It was better that way, they wouldn't have fit her anymore. She was sickly looking now, pale and dead looking. Not what Georgie Jones used to look like. She hadn't looked at an old picture of herself in years, Diego had left some in the room with her but she couldn't bear it. He had so many pictures of her, ones she hadn't even known he had taken.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head she looked around the little hole in the wall bar and smiled when she hit Johnny. She was crazy for looking for him- but she couldn't relate to normal people anymore. She had spent too much time alone or amongst the less-then-sane, anything normal was foreign, alien and kind of scary. Even her family, as hard as they were trying. He waved at her to join him and she started towards him. He was wearing a black t-shirt over a long-sleeved gray shirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans. When she sat down there was a small, mysterious smile on his face. "Not that I'm a freak stalker or anything but, I've been hoping you would come."

She looked back, not returning the smile but still content to sit where she was. "Of course I'd be here. I like it here."

"Let me go buy you a shot and a beer." He offered, "southern blues?"

She nodded and watched as he walked to the bartender. She looked annoyed and angry to see him. An old girlfriend? Probably. It didn't matter to Georgie, why would it? When he returned he had a tray with two shots, two glasses and a pitcher of beer. "I'm ambitious." He explained.

She raised a brow, "that's what they've said."

He replied with a dry chuckle and then poured their glasses of beer full. He then lifted his shot glass and waited until she clinked his with hers before they both took them down. The liquor went down easily, it didn't burn her throat anymore. "Sorry I sat in the corner but…I wanted to talk."

The seclusion didn't bother her, she was used to it and said so.

He liked being alone- but he didn't like being alone by force. At least that's what he told her. "I was put somewhere once, by Sonny Corinthos. He locked me up, held me captive. He thought I took his son, didn't bother looking for proof."

She looked down at the table, that must have been after Diego took her. She didn't remember it happening. "If you don't want to tell me…"

"I do, Anna." He replied quickly, almost feverishly. How much had already had to drink? The question lingered in her mind as she stared into his glazed, excited eyes. Him saying that name Anna put a nervous feeling in her stomach too. He'd eventually find out she didn't tell him her whole name, she wondered when that would be. "I want to tell you everything. I've wanted to tell someone for a long, long time because it's just this thing inside me, this sick thing twisting my guts around."

She understood and nodded at him but again reiterated. "I'm a stranger and your drunk, I'm just trying to remind you so you don't regret what you're going to tell me."

Johnny seemed to consider it, or at least he paused. "It was in an insane asylum, I think the building may have been condemned. Anyway, there was no one in it. He thought I took his son, I didn't." Georgie nodded and leaned in a little closer. She watched his lips as he spoke, the way every so often he'd suck in a little air to keep going or maybe to calm himself. Her eyes moved to his hands as they drummed nervously on the table. "I hated him for that. I did. I ordered a hit on him. Claudia did, rather. I wanted to do it myself." He closed his eyes and his face tensed, his eyebrows were drawn together as though he were deep in thought. "That got botched. Sonny became more erratic. His mood swings were…" Johnny shook his head, "like my father's. He was becoming more and more like my father every day. He kept calling my sister names, he kept threatening her. She was stronger then him and he couldn't stand it. Slut, whore, tramp- and it got worse. He claimed he was going legit but I knew he wasn't." He took down his entire glass of beer and poured another. He poured her another, Georgie hadn't realized she had finished hers. "He went mad one night, he attacked Claudia. Sure, she baited him, she does that, she tests people like a kid. But she never got to be a kid- so I don't blame her. I don't. But he was out of line. He grabbed her and I stepped in."

Georgie could see Sonny getting out of control. It wasn't really a far leap. She remembered once staring into his flat black eyes and seeing nothing there, nobody was looking back and it had scared her.

"I yelled for him to stop it. I punched him. I took his gun. I beat him." It was all said quickly, every statement in rapid fire. "He kept talking and insulting her. He kept coming at me."

"You had to stop him." The words fell from her lips before she could stop them. "He was hurting you. It had to end." She blinked, feeling the tears begin to prick her eyes. Fighting them, she snatched up her glass and drained it. "I get that."

"He was screaming about his children as he died." Johnny whispered, "he was screaming about Carly…there were others that I've killed. But this one sticks with me, I don't know why. Maybe it's because that's why my girlfriend left me."

Georgie blinked, "and were they all mob related?"

He nodded, "every one of them was a mobster. Kill them before they can kill you. That's the game."

For some reason that comforted her. "That's not the game. That's life." She answered dully, feeling the sorrow come back. She poured another beer. It was time to forget. It was definitely time to forget. He flashed a strange look at her but said nothing, just poured himself another beer too. They sat there like that, quietly finishing up there pitcher. She took it back to the bartender, ordered more shots, more beer.

"He's bad news," The blonde warned her as she was walking away. Bad news didn't scare her anymore, nothing could. She lived through every nightmare she had ever had. Things don't get worse then that.

They took down the shots and she was feeling it. He started Talking about the music. It wasn't too loud yet but it was the same punk rock that always crooned from the speakers. The small talk made her feel better, not normal but better and soon she found herself talking about other little things, like the music she liked. He played piano, she hadn't pegged him for that.

She noticed how handsome he was as the conversation wore on. He had a nice smile, pretty eyes and very masculine but soft features. He jerked a little when he moved, like he was nervous or worried about something. "I sing," she offered to his piano playing, "well, that's how I passed a lot of the time in the last two years. I'd get bored and I'd sing."

He smiled, "I'd like to hear you some time."

"I'd like to hear you play sometime." She returned.

"I'll get us some more to drink."

When he returned he had a piece of paper in his hand, he handed it to her along with another shot. "If I didn't freak you out too much…" He slipped it over to her. She unfolded it and smiled. It was his number.

Georgie drank the shot as he did and then smacked her lips loudly on purpose, to lighten the mood, to distract him, she wasn't sure which. "I'm not freaked out by you." She told him slowly and deliberately. "I'm comfortable with you."

He smiled. "It freaks you out a little bit, right? That I've taken someone else's life?"

He was trying to shock her. "I already knew you did. I know who you are, John Zacharra. I know what your family does, what you do. I know."

For a moment he just stared at her then he leaned closer and kept his voice in an urgent whisper. "I've killed others. He wasn't the first, he wasn't the last." His eyes bore into hers and he waited. For what she didn't know. There was nothing for her to say. "I've hurt others too. I've hurt so many."

She swallowed hard but kept her own confessions to herself. "What do you want from me?"

"Tell me I'm a terrible person. Tell me it's okay. Tell me what you think."

What she thought. She wasn't even sure what she was thinking. "I think you're drunk and that when you're sober you will wish you had never told me. I also think that it is not my place to tell you what is wrong and what is right. I honestly don't know the difference between them anymore." She stood up, feeling her legs wobble beneath her a little. "Maybe, if you had come to be me two years ago, I'd have told you that it was wrong. That hurting people wasn't right. I probably would have told you that people deserve second chances, that you should have given Corinthos one, that you deserved one. I would have asked you to stop killing. Stop using guns. Stop all of it." She shook her head lightly, "but that's not who I am anymore. That's not what I believe anymore. I can't forgive you for something you didn't do to me, I can't admonish you for something that I wasn't even here for either. It's not up to me to clear your conscience."

He looked down at the table, crestfallen. "Can you at least tell me that you'll see me again?"

"There was never any doubt that I'd see you again, Johnny Zacharra."

"Goodnight, Anna."


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! So it's been a really, really long time since I updated this story. I didn't fall out of love with writing it, I just had a messy break up, school kept me busy and whatnot. But my head is back in it's right place. I'm over the boy and I'm ready to write! Thanks to everyone who read and who is still reading. Thanks to everyone who messaged me over the last couple of weeks and thanks to everyone who has replied to this story! I really appreciate it and am glad you enjoy this dark little tale.

It's just going to get darker, as it always does before the dawn….

Average Everyday Sane Psych...: Thanks so much! Hopefully you'll like the next chapter!

RedDragen: Thanks!! I'm sorry you had to wait so long and hope this was worth it (if you're still reading after such a hiatus!)

TopNotch: Thank you so much!! I hope you continue to read and enjoy!!

.: Thanks! I like Glo as well—recommend any good fic for me to read on them? Also, Logan is IN this story and not as the abusive prick they ended up making him out to be. But he's definitely dark!

lily94: Yes, yes she is. Unfortunately she's going to have to stay that way- hers is not the easiest of journeys.

starbright: That's a very high compliment! Thank you so much!! I hope you continue to enjoy it and I am so sorry it took me so long to update!

MercuryMan: Wow! Thanks so much! I really appreciate it!!

NYMeggi: Awwww, thanks Meggi!! I know they aren't your usual good girl/bad boy couple in this and I'm glad you're enjoying it anyway!

Candymen: Thanks so much and Yup!! I am updating it now! And I Got your message too- but just recently as I had lost my email password (did I say lost? I mean forgot 'cuz I'm absent minded!)

And the darkness (finally!) continues….

**Chapter Four**

The Quartermaine mansion was unusually quiet. Not that he knew how it really was anymore; he hadn't been home since Georgie's funeral.

Georgie's funeral.

Dillon Quartermaine sat nervously on the couch in the den, fingers interlocked, hanging over his knees, back bent over as he stared dumbly at the floor. He had wanted to go directly to Georgie from the airport but Edward had picked him up and insisted he get his things unpacked. He almost seemed happy to have him home, which was odd and disconcerting. The ride to the mansion had been filled with Edward's mindless chatter about what terrible things his mother had been doing and how it was about time Dillon returned to straighten her act out.

He didn't say Georgie's name once.

For the car ride Dillon had almost forgotten she was alive again, he felt his chest tighten again as they drove through familiar surroundings. He didn't feel Georgie in the memories; it was like she was still gone. The initial elation faded and he doubted it was true. He had seen her dead body; he had touched her cool skin. How could she really be alive?

He lifted his head, looked at the well-known bright surroundings. He could see Georgie on the other side of the room, smiling at him, her brown eyes welcoming and warm. She opened her mouth to speak then vanished before his very eyes. He wondered if she still looked like that.

"Dillon."

He looked up to see Monica, her face was tired and worn. She looked so much older, she looked so…broken. He stood and just stared at her for a moment, taking in the absolute sorrow painted on her face. She had lost so much. "It's good to see you." He stepped towards her and waited until she broke down and fell into his arms, crying. He stroked her hair and whispered that it was going to be okay even though he knew that it wasn't. All three of her children were dead.

She sniffled and pulled herself away from him. "I'm…sorry- it's just seeing you again…"

"It's alright," he responded sincerely, "I miss them too."

She wiped away her tears, "but it's a happy time now, Georgie's alive…" She trailed off, her gaze becoming slightly unfocused. "You must be…"

"I don't know what I am." Dillon replied, "I don't even know if I believe it's really her."

Monica walked past him, folding her arms over her chest as she stared out the sliding doors into the bright, snow-covered garden. "You should go see her now. It's going to be a bad storm- the worst in years. You might not get the chance to see her for a few days if you stay any longer."

She was strong, he knew that and for the first time in his life he really saw Monica Quartermaine. He walked behind her, put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm staying in Port Charles." He told her softly, "if you need anything- come to me first. We're family."

"Yes." She said and put her hand atop of his. "We're family."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Walking quietly was something learned early in a captive state. Georgie was so used to those quick, silent steps that she still moved that way, half-frightened that around this corner was where her peace was going to end. It was something she wasn't even fully aware of until she scared Spinelli by surprising him. His whole body jerked and he spilled orange soda all over the tan couch of the Scorpio living room. "Jesus Georgie!" He exclaimed but immediately his face softened with that pitying look everyone was giving her. She'd take pity, she knew it was the one thing keeping people from asking too many questions. She didn't want to talk about what happened, to anyone, ever again. She had to tell Dr. Ian Devlin- no other choice and she didn't even tell him all of it. How could she?

"I didn't mean to scare you." She apologized, "I was just about to go meet an old girlfriend from high school, I was so intent on getting ready I didn't notice. I'll try to be less quiet."

He gave her a quizzical expression, "are you okay, Wise One?"

She wished he'd stop asking that. Why couldn't he just be in the blissful denial Maxie and Mac were in? "I guess so. Oh!" She shook her head, "I forgot my…pictures upstairs." She hoped he didn't catch her lies, it was a tangled web she was weaving, "she wanted to see pictures from school. You know, reminisce."

"Right." Spinelli said slowly, "no- wait, the Jackal can plainly see that the weather is not at all suitable for the Wise One to be capering about in. It's definitely D&D weather."

Georgie repressed a sigh, "oh, no worries, Spin. I'll be _fine_. It's within walking distance." Without giving him a chance to respond Georgie hurried out of the living room and up the steps, stopping right before they ended at the sound of Mac's voice. "No, she still isn't answering her phone. I just hope she's not…yeah…." There was a pause, "Maybe she's too furious at me to even respond…..because I couldn't protect Georgie, that's why!" His voice got noticeably louder, less rational. "I should have investigated it more, I should have been able to see that she wasn't dead. God knows what she went through- I can't even imagine but she went through it because I'm a shitty cop. I should have-"

She couldn't hear anymore, it was too much.

Georgie raced silently up to the attic and shut the door quietly behind her before leaning up against it, shattered. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down and then she closed her eyes and repeated the same words over and over.

"You're alright. You're alright. You're alright…"

Her breaths became more even, she straightened her back. Of course she was alright. She could handle anything, anything at all. There was a simple solution to her problem, it was easy and she had already promised it to herself anyway. But now, even if she wanted to talk about it, she wouldn't. Because now no one could know what happened to her while she was Diego's prisoner, they wouldn't be able to handle it. Mac already felt so guilty…

Georgie reached under her bed and pulled out her gun. She sat Indian-style in the middle of her floor staring at the piece intently. It had been a gift given out of love- it was how she escaped. She closed her eyes…

And now it would be how she was safe. No one would ever have to feel guilty for not protecting her ever again. No one would ever be able to hurt her…

"You're alright." She repeated.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Uh, Bold and Beautiful?"

Maxie turned around as Spinelli slipped into her bedroom/studio where she was working on her debut fashion line. Not that she actually had a debut coming up- but for when the time came she was going to be prepared. At least, that was what she was always telling Spinelli. "What's up?" She asked casually as she walked past him to the wall she had covered in various bright pink fabrics. She was looking at them absorbedly.

He quietly shut the door, "have you talked to your wise and loyal sister today?"

"Yeah, we caught breakfast at Kelly's while the snow was still light. Why ?" She pulled a piece of fabric up and then bright it to the other side of the wall, comparing it to yet another shade.

Feeling awkward, and due to what room he was in, aroused, Spinelli wet his lips, "was she acting…oddly?"

Maxie whirled, her full attention suddenly on him. "Well she's not exactly Merry Sunshine or anything. But would you be?"

He shook his head, "well, no…"

"I mean, she's still Georgie. Still with the annoying sweetness and light- just, you know, a little shaken, she's just quieter now. Not as self-righteous." Maxie reasoned out, going back to her shades of pink.

Spinelli shrugged his shoulders, still standing at the edge of her room. "Um- can I do anything to help the creative process of the Brazen Blonde One?"

Turning, Maxie gave him a pensive look. Her eyes moved down his body and up in a very probing, slightly disconcerting, manner that caused blood to creep up to his cheeks. "How would you feel about…being a model?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The snow was layering itself on the ground where giant blankets of it had already accumulated. She stared out at it, lifelessly from the steps of the club that she knew Johnny owned. It was closed, just like everything else. But Georgie had wanted to see it- just the outside, out of curiosity at least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Curiosity always had been her biggest downfall.

Avoidance was becoming her second.

She knew Dillon was home. Knew he was probably going to visit. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to look into his eyes and know that his cousin was dead…because she believed in someone she shouldn't have.

And now she was doing it again. Spending her time with criminals.

Johnny Zacharra hadn't changed. If she threatened him, she'd be dead. She knew how he worked just like she knew how they all worked. Corinthos, Morgan- sure they were dead but when they were alive they thought they were better then the Alcazar's, thought they had some honor. Georgie knew better. They were all the same, slightly off in the head and eventually, with time, the lines that were already blurred for them would become more blurred. Diego was just ahead of the curve.

But it was also the only thing Georgie really knew anymore. So she stared out at the endless white and wondered what normalcy really was. Was it Maxie and her conniving? Mac and his over-zealous crime fighting? Was it Felicia who would never be happy in one place or her father who needed adventure to feel alive?

Was it her?

Yeah, right.

"Penny for your thoughts- a thousand dollars to know why you're stalking me."

His voice was amused, not accusing. She didn't look at him, kept her gaze fixed on the endless white. It made the world look so innocent, so clean. She wished it could do the same to her. "I can leave."

"I didn't ask you to. I just wanted to know why you're here, that's all."

"I saw you looking at me." She answered mechanically, "my first night back. You were in the bar; I was getting plastered so I could go home to my family without losing my mind. You were staring at me without any worry that I would catch you." Finally she looked at him, "I was there with a friend, we had helped each other when we were in Mexico together. You haven't mentioned it to me or asked who he was."

"I don't care who he was, or is, to you."

She nodded, swallowing hard. "I don't want to be alone tonight but I can't be with my family."

"So you came to me?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

She wasn't answering the question, she became very quiet, her eyes settling back out on the landscape, focusing on the snow that was now billowing in the wind. He wanted to know why she came to him, he wanted to know why she was more comfortable with him then this family she had. But he wouldn't push it. Lulu had always done that with him, pushed him to tell his feelings. Sometimes he wanted her to, just so he had a reason to say what he was feeling. But most of the time, he didn't.

"Why were you staring at me?"

Why not? "Because you're beautiful."

"No, that's my sister." She stood up and twirled her finger on the snow covered banister, knocking of a clump of it onto the pile of snow on the ground. It made a soft crunching sound as it went. "Blonde, fashionable, attractive, heartbreaking, strong. I always envied her in a way- no one knew that of course. I mean- she was always jealous of me too because I was dependable, I was smart, I was loyal. But she wouldn't admit that either."

"You two don't get along?"

She turned to look at him, "I'd die for her."

"I understand that." He responded softly, thinking of Claudia. "I have a sister, I'd do anything for her. She's pretty fashionable, beautiful and heartbreaking too. My father wasn't very nice to her- ever."

"Does she hate him?"

"She says she does." He answered, crossing the steps to stand in front of her. He touched the bottom of her chin, holding her face upwards. "But you're wrong. You are beautiful. You're kind of what I think Helen of Troy must have looked like." The kind of beautiful that could drive a man mad because it wasn't just on the outside, it started in her eyes and just shone all over like some kind of tragic fading light, he kept that part to himself. It seemed like the best plan.

"Helen of Troy," she whispered, her face drained of color as she moved from his grasp. "The kind of beauty you want to posses." There was fear in her voice and when their gazes met she looked away so quickly he was left wondering if they had even joined at all. "Do you like to possess things, John?"

He eyed her warily, knowing this was a test. But a test for what? "You can't possess a person. But if you're asking if I'm territorial- don't you think that's kind of a given?" His attempt to lighten the mood didn't work.

Her lashes fluttered over her eyes and she held her head up to the wind. "They fought wars for Helen of Troy, John- not in her honor, not even because they loved her. But because they wanted to own her. They wanted her to be theirs. In the end she just became an excuse…if you believe the story…"

"I don't want to own you." He finally replied seriously, "I don't want to use you as an excuse. And whoever hurt you, whoever made you think that being called beautiful was something to fear, should hope they never meet me." Taking a step closer he clasped her shoulder in his hand, the material of her coat bunching in his palm. When she turned her lips were close enough to touch his and she was staring up at him with deep, shattering brown eyes that weighed on him more then anything else ever had. He hadn't been this close to a woman without the stink of alcohol on their breath in a very, very long time. But Anna didn't smell like liquor, she smelled like snow and jasmine. He brushed her hair from her face, "tell me who it was. Tell me who you are. Anna, tell me everything."

"I can't." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I just, I need this to be as it is, okay? I need this."

"Okay." He swallowed, "lets go inside."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Dillon walked up to the door, the last time he had seen this door he had felt the whole world collapsing beneath him. Everything had been wrong then. Georgie was gone and the world was an empty, cold place.

It still felt that way, he needed to see her, he needed the warmth again, there was no believing it until she was there in front of him. Until he could touch her, until he could…

"Dillon?"

He turned to see Mac crunching through the snow with a large paper bag in his hands. "I was just bringing some extra food in from the garage- I didn't expect you today, the weather is horrible."

"I…" He took a deep breath, "I couldn't wait to see her."

He nodded solemnly, "well lets get inside before we get buried out here."

He looked exactly the same, only covered in snow and wearing jeans and a sweater instead of his usual suit. As they entered the Scorpio home they were greeted with a rush of warm, cinnamon scented air. It smelled like home, it looked like home. A real home though, not the motels and boarding schools he knew as a kid, or the vast and empty Quartermaine mansion. This is the kind of environment that made a girl like Georgie Jones. A good girl. A kind girl. But it was also the kind of environment that had sheltered her and led her to believe there was good in everyone.

She had paid for that idealistic view.

And so had he.

"No! No! No pictures Brazen Blonde One, PLEASE!" It was the terrible shrieking of Damien Spinelli as he barreled down the steps in what Dillon could only describe as a slutty pink prom dress. What the…

"Come on, Spin- JUST ONE!" Maxie was cackling with glee as she hopped down after him, camera in hand, blond hair a wreck and make up smeared on her face. It wasn't how Dillon had expected to find either of them. But there was happiness there, he noted. Mac was laughing at them, Maxie was laughing so hard it looked like she was gasping for breath and Spinelli was grinning like a fool. "Think fast Q-man." Maxie quipped, tossing the camera this way seconds before she leaped forward on Spinelli.

Used to having a camera in his hand, Dillon began snapping pictures instinctively as the two wrestled on the floor. He got Mac in the pictures too. "Oh, so not cool." Spinelli muttered, then his face brightened and he took off. When he returned he had lipstick in his hand and shot after Dillon, beckoning Maxie to follow.

By the end they were all in the kitchen- covered in cherry red lipstick and after Mac decided it was food fight time, mashed potatoes, green beans and chocolate cake.

Exhausted Spinelli, still in a dress, was lying on the floor, chest heaving. Dillon was propped up against the wall. Mac was draped over the kitchen chair and Maxie was at his feet trying to scrape mashed potatoes out of her hair.

He knew what this was, this was the joy of having Georgie alive. This was what had been missing for years. Because she was alive- no one could be this happy otherwise.

Dillon smiled.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Johnny's club was enormous. The ceilings were incredibly high, like in a palace and the dance floor, surrounded by tables for people to eat at, was wide and open. It was decorated in dark colors with bright intrusions, giving it an abstract, dreamy feeling to it. As she walked towards the bar, situated on the very left end of the room across from the entrance, Johnny watched her walk. It made her slightly self-conscious. "Did you get a hold of your family?"

"I left them a message." She answered softly, taking the seat next to him.

He stood, circling the bar and then ducking under the open part and standing behind it. He whipped out a bottle of southern comfort, two glasses with ice and then smiled. "So what's your family like?"

"My dad's a cop." She smiled as his eyes widened, "my mom used to be a PI but now she's off on some adventure with the husband she had before my dad." She could no longer bring herself to call anyone but Mac dad, it didn't seem loyal, she downed the first glass of Southern Comfort and then tapped the rim of her glass thoughtfully. "I grew up kind of crazy- lots of weird stuff happens in Port Charles. But on the whole I got lucky. No abuse stories or anything like that."

He nodded, refilling the glass.

"My sister almost died a few times- she's not the picture of health. That was trying." Georgie went on, watching his face as she revealed little bits of the mystery without giving them the context. She didn't want him to know- hell; she didn't want to know this stuff. "I fell in love young- the real kind of love, not the stuff kids usually end up feeling."

"True love, eh?" He smirked, "no such thing."

"You've never been in love?"

"Sure- I love every girl that graces my bed, Anna. At least for a little while." He chuckled throatily and took down his own glass then refilling it.

She arched a brow, knowing better. "No long-term relationships?"

"Lulu Spencer. There's one." He answered, "I killed her friend- end of relationship. Go figure." His laugh this time was self-deprecating and bitter. "But what did she expect? What did Claudia expect? We weren't playing some board game. We weren't kidding around. It wasn't a fairy-tale. It was the mob and Corinthos was a _problem_." He sighed, gulped down some more drink then shook his head, "but she was so young and idealistic. Sure, she had her shit that she went through. Her dad used a hands off method of child rearing and her mother ended up in a catatonic state but she still held some kind of idealistic fantasy of what life could be."

"You loved that about her." Georgie finished for him softly. "That no matter what she still had that…light inside her."

"I liked it at first- but it wasn't the kind of light that draws in darkness." He replied, "it was…just a selfish dream-world. She made it up in her head because it was easier then looking at the reality." He closed his eyes, expression one of actual physical pain. "Her being in my world was dangerous. She wasn't seeing the good in me or being mature about a bad situation, Anna, she was seeing what she wanted to see."

"That's dangerous." Georgie agreed, voice catching, "seeing the good when there isn't any can cause for serious repercussions later. Especially if you don't follow through…and then there you are, completely deluded as you stare into the eyes of the devil himself…smiling as he eats you alive…." She trailed off, shaking her head.

"The guy you loved when you were a kid?"

"A different guy. That's a long story. I don't want to get into it, really. Lets just say- I learned my lesson. I know reality now and there's no pulling the wool over my eyes."

"I see a light inside of you, Anna." Johnny contradicted, "you're not as cold as you want to sound, I think you see good still."

"When there's good to be seen." She replied curtly, "but I see you for who you are, John. I don't think you've changed. I think you're as dangerous as you ever were- maybe more so now that you're out of the mob. Their rules aren't your own anymore." She looked down at the bar, "I'm not saying you're the devil, I'm just saying- you do what you have to do to survive and I'm okay with that. I'm living that dream too."

He just stared at her for a moment, like she was a puzzle and a few pieces were missing. She didn't have the heart to tell him he was staring at the few missing pieces and that the rest of the puzzle was in suburbia. "You mean nightmare."

"Yeah, that's what I meant."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"No," he was resolved, "I don't believe it, not entirely. I mean- yeah, you think I'm dangerous. You know who I am and what I'm capable of. But if you didn't see any good in me, even if it's made up in your head, then you wouldn't be here."

He poured her another drink and she looked up at him. "Maybe I like the darkness. Maybe it's comfortable- familiar."

"And what have you done that's so dark?"

She downed the drink and looked at him, kept her gaze level with his as she stood up, shrugging off her jacket and revealing a form fitting black sweater. He liked how she dressed, it wasn't the usual trash he saw at bars but it wasn't the picture of conservatism. "Dancing with the devil is pretty dark. Will you dance with me?"

"So I'm the devil now?" He raised a brow.

She held her hand out, "maybe I am."

"Hm, maybe you are." He agreed but he took her hand and followed her out to the dance floor, "do you often dance with your friends?"

"I make a habit of it." She was flirting and doing it very, very well. Her eyes were sparkling at him, showing more life than he had ever seen before. Her hand was warm, it felt good in his. He guided her towards him and she stretched her arms up, clasping her hands behind his neck. He swallowed before placing his own hands on her waist, bending his knuckles as he paused directly before finally reaching the destination. "Are you always this awkward with girls? I thought you were smooth."

"I just don't want you to shoot me with the gun in your jacket- I'm trying not to offend."

Her eyebrows flew up, "how did you- nevermind, don't answer."

"Are you protecting yourself from me, Anna?"

Her smile had completely faded, "there are other dangerous people in the world besides you."

"I'll protect you from them."

She took a step back, "I should go home."

"Anna-"

"No, no, look, I'm sorry." She was shaking her head and stepping backwards, looking anywhere but at him. "I didn't mean to- I mean, I'm sorry that I- I should just go." She ran a nervous hand through her hair before fumbling forward, stumbling towards the bar to where coat was. She made it there and grabbed onto it, clutching it before she headed towards the door.

"Anna, don't go." She wasn't listening, he wondered if she even heard that he spoke at all. Desperately he rushed after her, grabbing her shoulder. She whirled around, panicked, looking like a trapped animal. Her chest rose and fell quickly, she was reaching in her coat, blindly, terrified. He doubted she was even with him anymore. "Please, Anna, calm down." He stepped away and raised his hands in the air, "Anna I'm not going to hurt you, I swear. Okay? I'm not."

And just like that she dropped to her knees. She was sobbing, her head in her hands, hair falling in her face. He kneeled down next to her, trying to pull her into his arms. She went, fell into him and buried her face in his chest, murmuring how sorry she was between tears. He stroked her hair, told her it was going to be okay. He felt like they were there, frozen like that for an eternity. He wouldn't have minded if it they could stay like that for another eternity. For once he didn't feel so alone.

She pushed him away, wiping her tears away and then stood up, straightening her back. Her breathing was still ragged and he looked up at her from his place on the ground as she managed to calm herself and replace her cool exterior. "I…didn't mean to lose it like that."

"We all need to let it out sometimes, Anna."

She took a deep breath, "yeah…yeah, I guess."

"I wasn't trying to scare you."

She shook her head, "yes, yes I know. I do know that. None of that was your fault, I promise. I've had a bad couple of years- it caught up with me for a second or two, I guess." Shrugging it off she started back towards the bar, returning to her drink.

He got to his feet and followed, "are you going to run from it forever?"

She glanced askance at him, "I'm going to try."

"Mind if I run with you?"

Her smile, ever so slightly, returned, "what are friends for?"

Right then he could see it all in his head, what she must have been like before he knew her. She had probably been a nice, good person who did the right thing and who didn't know the darkness of anything. She had probably been naïve and sweet- like he had thought Lulu was when they first met but proved not to be. She had probably been spunky and passionate. She had probably been whole once.

But someone had taken all of that away. Someone had done this to her like his father had done this to him. One day she was going to tell him who. When she did, when he had that name he was going to track that person to the ends of the earth.

And he was going to kill them.


	5. Chapter 5

RedDragen: Thanks!! Sorry it took so friggin' long!

ravenj84: Nope- it sure seemed like it though! Thanks and I'm glad you're diggin' it!

poeticgrace: Thanks!! I love Glo too! Is your fic up on ? I'll definitely be checking it out if it is!

QUEENADDEK: Thanks! And I'm not a huge Lulu fan either. She was fun at first but there was too huge of a dose of her. She got old, fast and Johnny is totally wasted on her.

Average Everyday Sane Psycho: Thanks so much!! I am definitely checking your Glo fics out this week when my project for school is done! I hope they're up on this site! And thanks for the recommendation! I love Spixie! They get a little darker in this chapter but the Spixie fun will continue and there's more of them in the next few chapters then there has been. They have a lot of scenes with Dillon..

lily94: It's good to be back so thanks! And I hope it makes sense since that is exactly what I'm going for! I like my characters flawed. Thanks so much!!!

TSJorSydPip: thanks!!! I might put Lucky in for a few chapters since he can relate to Georgie AND I do love me some Lucky. That's a good idea, thanks! I appreciate the feedback and the suggestion!

Candymen: Thanks so much!!! It's actually a little difficult to write Georgie dark, she's one of the few characters I have trouble doing that to so I really appreciate that you're liking her this way. She's a bit lighter in this chapter (it can't rain all the time, haha) and I hope you like that just as well! Yup, the next few chapters are Georgie/Johnny stuck together as are Mac/Dillon/Maxie/Spin

Liz9: Thanks!!! I like Georgie and Johnny a lot, I wish she was still on the show so they could have them interact!

starbright: Wow! Thanks! Where can I find this fanfiction board? I love to read ff, so I'm always interested in new places to find it! The next few chapters are Georgie/Johnny but soon she's going to be interacting more with her family, including Robin and especially Mac/Maxie. Thanks again!!!

**Chapter Five**

Johnny woke to the smell of bacon.

He wasn't used to waking to the smell of anything but the cheap perfume of the girl next to him, sometimes the liquor he fell asleep drinking or both.

He didn't remember much of the night before. Johnny grumbled about the painful ramifications of tequila and turned over in his bed, pulling the blanket over his head. He poked his head out quickly and took a whiff, eggs too, probably some other delicious breakfast food. His stomach rumbled ravenously. He stumbled out of bed, tripping as he went and realized he hadn't quite sobered up yet. How had he gotten in bed anyway?

He managed to walk down the hallway, still not dressed sans his favorite black cotton boxers and spotted Anna at the kitchen table of the apartment he 'lived' in above the club.

Her long brown hair was piled up atop her head. She was wearing one of his black wife-beaters and a pair of his gray sweat pants that were held up with the black strap from his robe. "You were surprisingly stocked up on food," she said without looking up from the toast she was buttering, "and I really, really wanted a decent breakfast. So I made some, there's enough here for both of us. I hope you don't mind."

"Mind?" He asked with a chuckle, "I think I may just ask you to marry me."

"You should probably taste it first," she warned with mock seriousness, finally looking up at him and her cheeks colored before she whirled around to the stove, picking up another plate and shoveling scrambled eggs onto it. "You wouldn't want to marry a bad cook."

He nodded, taking the plate out of her hands and setting it on the table, enjoying the fact that she was keeping her eyes carefully averted from his less-than-clothed person. She placed the second plate on the table and then moved towards the refrigerator. "You even have orange juice."

"My sister sent someone to shop for me when she heard there was going to be a blizzard." He answered, "I'm glad she did now." Then he stopped and looked at Anna as she poured them both glasses of orange juice, "you realize that you can't go home, right? We're going to be stuck in here together for days."

"I know."

"Days." He repeated.

"Is that an issue for you?"

He shook his head, "no- is it for you?"

"Nope." Anna sat down across from him, keeping her eyes fixed only on his face. "We discussed this last night."

"We did." He was nodding, trying to make it seem like he knew exactly what she was talking about.

Her eyes widened, "you don't remember last night." She took a drink from her orange juice and leaned back in the chair. "You don't. Not even a little? What was the last thing you remember?"

He considered it, tilting his head to the side and trying to focus. He recalled holding her as she cried, how right it felt and then briefly compared it to how right she looked in his clothing, in his kitchen, then he tried to remember more of the night before. "Tequila," he decided on it, "yeah, I remember you getting the tequila out."

She moved her eggs with her fork, a strand of hair falling messily into her face, "and that's it?"

He nodded.

"You don't remember kissing me?"

His head snapped up, "what?"

"Taking my clothes off?"

He put both hands on the table and pushed his chair back, searching his memory. He would have remembered that, he knew he would have remembered that. There was no way that he would have _forgot_ sleeping with Anna, no way, no amount of liquor could wipe it from his memory. "No we didn't."

She was smiling, "how about dancing with a tutu? Do you remember that? You sang 'I'm a Little Teapot."

He sighed in relief, "you're horrible."

She clapped her hands together and laughed, "You should have seen the look on your face- you were terrified. Haha!"

He shoveled eggs into his mouth, glaring at her. Then took another bite before digging into his bacon. "You're lucky you're a good cook or I would kick you out into the blizzard after that little game." He told her after swallowing some orange juice to rinse down the food. "Of course, now we're getting married for sure. You have to make an honest man out of me- you know, since you took advantage of my drunken state."

She nodded solemnly, "I have to. It's the only right thing to do. I just hope you're not pregnant."

"You and me both." He agreed, smiling. "So, Anna, are we going to actually talk about last night?"

"What about it?" She asked innocently, shifting her eggs across her plate and then back again before looking up at him. "I was drunk and babbling, it was all just nonsense."

He bit back a groan of frustration, "okay then, tell me about who you were before this, before whatever happened to make you drunkenly break down and spew this so-called nonsense."

She pushed her plate away and met his gaze. "I was a nice girl."

He noted the bitterness but didn't articulate it. Instead he just quietly ate her breakfast and waited for her to continue. "I was a nice girl," she repeated, "most of the time. I had my moments of jealousy, of stupidity. It lead to someone getting killed and to me eventually being kidnapped. Lets just say, after that, I didn't act before thinking for a good long time."

Kidnapped. Johnny wanted to ask but kept his silence, he didn't want her to stop explaining.

"I was a good student. I was a good sister. I was a good daughter. I did the right thing. I gave good, sound advice. I didn't push people. I didn't talk out of turn." She continued, still mashing her food and not eating it as she stared listlessly down at her plate. "I was going to take a semester in Europe and then backpack through it in the summer with a girlfriend of mine. I wasn't planning on coming back."

He was surprised by that, "you weren't?"

She shook her head, "I had a crush on a guy but he really- he just saw me as a friend. Which was okay- I wasn't angry or anything I just didn't want to pine. So Europe it was. I had big plans of being seduced by a charming European who was set on tainting my prudish ways."

"You're a dreamer." He asserted.

"Was." She responded curtly, "I was the girl who dreamed of the bad boy but was too smart to actually go for it- for the most part."

"I like that." He said sincerely, "you're still too smart to date the bad boy, I assume."

She nodded, "I'm actually far smarter then I ever was before."

"So you were a good girl, hmm? I bet you never drank, either. When you say a good student, I'm certain you meant brilliant and if you were a dreamer, I'll suppose you were a writer too. PI for a mom, cop for a dad? I'll go with journalist."

Both eyebrows flew up, "I…I…yes, actually, I did want to be a journalist."

"You talked about being kidnapped like it was nothing." He went on, "so you forgave him…or her…I'm guessing him. "

"I killed his cousin, well, someone else killed his cousin but it was my fault." She explained, her voice soft, ridden with guilt. "my fault. And then he hurt a lot of people, a lot of people all because of that, including my friends, my family. And it got worse. It just kept getting worse and that was my fault too. So…yes, I forgave him."

"But not yourself."

"It's not something I talk about- ever. Actually, I've never told anyone why I really forgave him besides you, right now."

"I like keeping your secrets." He replied, "because we're friends."

She nodded, "looks like."

"I don't have friends." He said thoughtfully, "just Claudia- you know? Other then that I had some acquaintances, people I got in trouble with as a kid. I mean, there was Lulu I guess but I don't consider her…a friend. So no one I trusted, no real friend. Until now. Until you."

When he looked into her eyes they were warm.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Oh hey, Georgie called, Maxie." Mac told her as he came down the stairs with a snow shovel in his hands, he smirked as he watched his blonde daughter roll over onto Spinelli and look up groggily. They were nestled in a pile of material and junk food. On the couch beside them was Dillon, half of it, mouth agape, sleeping peacefully. It had been a good night and it was obvious a lot of fun was had. Mac liked that. He liked seeing his daughter with a smile on her face, groggily sleeping to someone who was somewhat respectable now that his mob ties were lost. "She had to stay at her friend's but she is doing well, she wanted me to tell you."

Maxie nodded before falling back into the pile, Spinelli shifted in his sleep so that they were spooning and immediately they were both sound asleep.

He wondered when Maxie was going to wake up and realize her own feelings. He knew it was best not to interfere, despite his desperate wanting to. Spinelli was a far better choice then her usual boyfriends and he wanted someone who was going to do well for his daughter. Spinelli was a PI, that would keep some adventure in the relationship so she wouldn't get bored, something she was wont to do and he was a nice guy who would never hurt her.

And the kid was head over heels, unbelievable, undeniably, irrevocably in love with her.

Mac smiled, remembering what it was like to feel that way.

"You're staring." Dillon murmured from the couch, smiling a little. Mac chuckled, "yeah, well…they look happy."

"I wonder when she'll notice that." Dillon replied, looking down at them, "but Georgie always said Maxie was like Felicia, very stubborn."

Mac nodded, "yeah, there's a lot of her mother in there."

"And in Georgie?" Dillon asked, "who do you think she takes after?"

Mac chuckled, "Robin and Georgie are a lot alike but a lot different. All my girls are there own person, I'm just lucky to have them all back."

Dillon smiled again, working his way off the couch and through the mess below him so that he could follow Mac into the kitchen. "I couldn't believe it, you know? She's really here, she's really alive."

"And safe." Mac added with a relieved sigh, "all three of my girls are safe and sound."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Breakfast was amazing." Johnny told her, taking to rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher, "and you seem lighter today."

She shrugged, "I like snow."

"This much snow?" He asked, shutting the door of the machine, turning around and leaning against it as he stared at her, arms crossed. She turned around in her chair, straddling it, elbows on the back, propping her chin with her hands. "It's a blizzard out there. Who knows how long we'll be trapped here."

"Your sister bought enough food to last an army for three months." Anna responded, "so it's not like we'll starve."

"But I'm sure there's somewhere else you'd rather be." He pressed on. She shook her head, "somewhere you're avoiding?"

"Well jeez, aren't you curious this morning?" She asked with a laugh as she drew her leg over the chair and finished her orange juice in a standing position. It was funny but he felt more at home then he ever had, like this was right somehow, sitting in the kitchen with this girl he barely knew wearing his clothes, finishing clean up after a nice breakfast. He dismissed the thought as cabin fever. He was not the homebody type.

"You're a mystery. I'm trying to solve you." He replied honestly, "that guy you were with…at the bar that first night…who was he?"

"So you do care who he is to me." She pointed out mockingly. "Are you trying to protect my honor?"

"Oh, my intentions are always honorable, I assure you." He said with exaggerated emphasis. "Especially when considering the fairer sex."

"If by fairer you mean superior, I accept the compliment with the satisfaction of knowing it's the truth."

He smirked, "so who was he? Your boyfriend?"

She sighed, "no, he's not my boyfriend. And in case you don't believe me? His boyfriend's name is Jordan. They met online."

"How did you meet him?"

"Seriously, enough with the questions, I feel like I should have a light fixed on me and you should be talking funny and holding a cigarette. I'm really not that exciting."

"You're trying to stay a mystery, aren't you?"

"I'm not that hard to figure out." Her words were soft. She shook her head, "lets go check out some cartoons, we'll make it a nice light, trouble free morning."

He begrudgingly nodded, grabbed a bag of Doritos and headed towards his bedroom. She followed and he turned the television on, hopping into his bed and under the covers. She stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Come on, it's cold." He told her, "lets get under the covers and watch some cartoons. There's a ton of old ones to pick from on demand."

She looked at the bed reluctantly one more time before crawling in next to him and pulling the covers up back against the headboard. "I finally got you in bed."

She glared at him as he turned the cartoons on with a triumphant smile on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Maxie finished up her last design and smiled at her creation, already imagining the material and colors to go with the picture in her head. It was going to be her best design yet and no doubt earn her some attention in the fashion world. Kate owed her big and she was going to cash in on it. Maxie turned, pinning the design on her door and then taking a step back, tilting her head to the side. The door opened and she was about to bark at Mac for not knocking. Spinelli poked his head through the door, sporting his impish, goofy grin. "Brazen Blonde One, I think I figured out a way to get rid of the Film Guy and keep Lulu from coming to town." She perked up, "you mean you're going to fix your failure?" "My epic failure," he replied, nodding. "and you're going to love this one!" She clasped her hands together and surged forward. "tell me, tell me, tell me." "First, we'll take Georgie and we'll lock her in a tower." He told her conspiratorially, "and then we'll keep her there forever!"

Maxie threw her arms around his neck and squealed excitedly. "Yes! YES! And we'll make Logan build the whole tower by himself." Her addition came out with glee and she pulled back from Spinelli and then stopped, looking into his eyes. Her eyes dropped to his lips and settled there, confused by the tug inside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and when she opened them he was already touching her lips with his, capturing her mouth softly. Responding she wrapped her arms around his neck, finger wrapped around a lock of the hair from the back of his head. He pulled her closer and she chuckled into his mouth.

Happy.

Maxie jerked upwards and looked at Spinelli beside her, still sound asleep. She shook her head and tried to clear the dream away. When she glanced sideways she caught Dillon looking at her. "What?"

"Bad dream," he asked, annoyingly smug from the couch. He had a book in his hands and the blanket draped over his lap.

"As a matter of fact," she said haughtily, "I was dreaming that you were going away. So no, it was a fabulous dream."

"So how are things between you and Jackal?" That smarmy smile needed to be punched off his face.

She smiled sweetly back, "we've been planning on how to get him to go out with Georgie, actually." She shot back delightedly. "You know how she had that huge crush on him before she went away? Well it's time that her dreams come true. They'll have the life they always wanted, it'll be perfect. I can't think of two people who deserve happiness more. And Georgie, she'll be thrilled."

He leaned back on the couch, "is this you're 'subtle' way of telling me to not pursue your sister romantically?" Dillon muttered using air quotes. His face was a mask of irritation, "did you ever consider I came here as her friend?"

She laughed, "right, like a loser like you wouldn't pine after my amazing sister. I'm not stupid. Lulu was a dud, no other girl compared…I knew that was going to be the outcome." She sighed loudly, "but you already screwed that up and Georgie does not really forgive you. I mean how could she? Sure, she's nice, she tried to. But honestly, deep down, every single time she looks at you she's going to see you having sex with Lulu when you were supposed to be loving her."

Dillon pushed the blanket off and shook his head, "still the same old pleasant, Maxie." With one last glare he started toward the kitchen, very annoyed.

She looked down at Spinelli, her heart sinking. "Oh yeah, some things never change."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You can't honestly be defending the Socratic argument that you have a social contract with the state because you agreed to live there. John," Anna stared incredulously at him from beside him on the bed, "you're a _criminal_."

He looked forward, arms crossed over his chest, "I didn't say I followed it, I said he has a valid point. If you stay in the country you are- when you are freely allowed to leave at any point- then you're agreeing to their laws."

"Yes, I know what you're saying." She pulled her legs up and situated herself into an Indian style position. The cartoon they had been watching was long forgotten, having accidentally sprung a debate over whether or not it was fair of Jerry to put Tom through so much pain, then it escalated to Tom breaking the law, then the debate raged on until they were knee deep in Plato. "But you're a criminal."

"I'm a club owner, actually. I'm rehabilitated. I went to therapy."

She threw a pillow at him, "you did not."

"That is an act of civil disobedience. Anna, you should be _ashamed_." He threw it back at her.

"Ah! Ah! Retaliation is harm against me, and no one should do harm, ever."

He got to his knees and threw another pillow at her. "I lied, Socrates was a hack! Plato was a self-righteous circle-talker."

She laughed and collapsed back on the bed. "But still, you gotta feel bad for Tom."

"True. There's been a lot of anvils," he agreed jokingly. Then he stopped, "wow, that was almost normal, huh?"

She chuckled, "and who knew you were all book-learned," she teased, "I just figured you were a pretty face with an attitude." She dodged another pillow flying at her head, "and you watch cartoons. I'm telling every single girl at the bar that you had a crush on Jessica Rabbit. I'll put it on the news!"

"That's the last deep dark secret I let you in on."

She rolled her eyes, "fine, fine, fine- I promise, even with threat of death, I will never reveal your fetish for cartoon babes, okay?" Anna replied with her right hand raised solemnly.

He nodded. "Besides, if you tell anyone I'll just have you fitted for cement shoes."

Laughing, she leaned back against the headboard and turned her gaze to the ceiling. "God, I feel good for a change, you know? Like…a real person or something." Her brown eyes were glowing, he noted and her voice changed, it was a little louder, more confident then it usually was. He found himself puzzled by the change.

"Anna- don't take this the wrong way but sometimes…I wonder if you _are_ real. I mean, it's almost like your two different people, one is this lonely, broken being who seems only half here and the rest is in some other world. Then there's…this you, quirky, smart and…really fun. My question is- which is you?"

"Would you believe me if I said that they both are?" She asked, finally bringing her gaze to his. "I'd be telling the truth."

He tried to read her expression and found that he couldn't. It was somewhere between guilt and sincerity- but the two didn't correlate in his mind. Johnny sighed, "I like it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is the Brazen Blonde One okay?" Spinelli asked sweetly.

Maxie didn't glance back at him as she continued staring at her fabric. She had been staring at the same two pieces half the day, avoiding he and Dillon as though they carried the plague. "Yeah, Sure. Why?"

"You've been unusually quiet. Of course I'm concerned."

"I'm just a little tired."

"You slept in." Spinelli responded.

She frowned, "I didn't sleep well though."

"Bad dreams?"

She shrugged, "it depends on your perspective, I guess." She turned to look at him, blue eyes narrowed. "Lets pretend we're Georgie." She closed her eyes, "okay, I'm Georgie- now lets say I want something…but if someone I really loved deserved it more, what would I do? Would I take this 'something' or would I give it to the more deserving individual?"

Spinelli made a face, "The Jackal has no idea why The Brazen Blonde One would want to be like her sister." He stopped and shook his head, "aren't you happy with who you are?"

Maxie just gave him 'the look', as Mac often called it. It was his nice way of translating what Dillon used to call her 'what, are you stupid?'glare. Spinelli thought the latter was a more accurate description while the former was just easier to say. "Spin, I'm morally ambiguous. I was just _trying_ to figure out what the right thing would be. I don't want to be a carbon copy of my sister. I mean, she can't dress for one." Maxie stopped, "nevermind, whatever. I know the answer anyway, I was just hoping for a way out."

"How can I have known you so long and yet you still remain a mystery?" He replied wistfully.

Maxie adjusted the fabric one last time. "I'm not that hard to figure out."

Spinelli took a step back, "of course, The Jackal only meant that your gender as a whole are very complicated creatures and wasn't at all trying to infer that the Brazen Blonde One was the only complex one out there." He hedged uncertainly and then gave up. "No, That was a lie. The Brazen Blonde One is very, very, very hard to understand sometimes."

Maxie shrugged, "at least I'm not dull then."

"The Fashionista is many things," Spinelli agreed while nodding, "but dull is not one of them."

A knock came on the door and Maxie casually called out to come in. Dillon stepped in, "Mac wants you, Maxie. I think he's having trouble with a recipe?"

Maxie grinned, "I love that he has to come to me with me about that." With a jaunty little prance she left the room, tossing her hair just as she exited.

"She's still…Maxie. It's funny, I thought she would have changed a little."

"She has." Spinelli told him seriously, "The Brazen Blonde One is still as tactless as ever- but she's nicer then she used to be and a little more…hesitant about giving her heart out." He stared at the door she left from with a little pang in his heart. He had watched her date boy after boy for two years, never really looking his way, never really thinking of him as more then a friend or them as more then a lay. Sometimes he was just ready to give up.

Dillon followed his gaze and gave him a quizzical look, "so when are you going to ask Georgie out?"

"Huh? No, no I'm not." He shook his head, "The Wise One is in far too a vulnerable a state for that. Besides, I believe her feelings for the Jackal passed with…her passing…" He stumbled over the words then spilled over with a whole new thought, "The Wise One should really be seeing someone, I think, perhaps a doctor. Someone who can help her through this adjustment to freedom. I can see how she would be leery of the head shrinkers though- sometimes they aren't very just or fair in their accusations."

"Is she…having problems?" Dillon asked with an arched brow, his hands went into his pockets, seeming to purposely ignore the last part of Spinelli's word-vomit. Spinelli was glad, he didn't really feel like explaining why he hated psychiatrists.

"She's barely seen, always out…visiting with old friends."

"Like right now?"

Spinelli nodded, "exactly."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Is everything alright, Johnny?"_

Standing with the phone between his ear and shoulder as he buttered bread for their lunch, Johnny gave his sister Claudia an affirmative, assuring her that he was in no way in danger from the blizzard.

"_I don't just mean the blizzard, Johnny. Is Trevor still sniffing around?"_

"Not that I know of," He answered honestly, putting the bread on the skillet before adding the cheese and starting on the other pieces. "He's been….quiet. Which is suspicious in and of itself."

"_I think I should come visit."_

Johnny fought to keep his tone neutral, "Oh no, Claudia, that's not necessary." He arched his neck to see Anna in the living room, reading one of the books she had taken from his shelf in his office. "Everything is very peaceful out here, you know? Calm. Nothing is happening at all."

Anna turned the page, her lips quirking upwards.

"_You're seeing someone and you think I will react the way I did with Lulu."_

"No, no, no- I'm not seeing anyone- well, I mean I am seeing lots of girls but none regularly. I'm not a part of a couple or anything like that." He answered vaguely and turned his attention back to his cooking. "I just don't think you should uproot yourself right now, not when everything is going so well."

"_So who is she?" _

"There's no she, Claud."

"Is that girl from the bar- that Anna girl? Is she with you now? Is that why you haven't called me out of boredom like fifty times?"

Johnny cursed silently that his sister knew him so well. "Anna is just a friend, Claudia."

"_Oh, right. But she's there, snowed in with you, right?"_

"Yes."

"_Is she pretty?"_

"Claudia, stop. I checked in and now I'm checking out. You take care, okay?"

"You too, little brother."

Johnny hung the phone up and then proceeded to finish preparing the grilled cheese sandwiches for he and Anna. He turned to look at her, she was still smiling, her attention completely focused on the book in front of her. Her head rested on the back of the black leather couch and she had one knee up with her elbow resting on it while the other leg was dangling. She looked comfortable.

On his couch.

In his clothes.

That possessiveness he knew she would be afraid of reared its ugly head. He wanted to explain it to her, that he didn't want to own her but like all things in his life he wanted to protect her. That meant he needed her to tell him who hurt her so he could make sure they never did it again.

He could guess what they did from the way she acted- or at least he had a vague idea that rape was involved somehow and he knew that it had happened at least two years before. Also, he deduced that she was nowhere near over it. Johnny had seen his share of broken people, heard his share of tragic stories and he knew the signs.

So he was going to have to keep his territorial nature at bay.

Not as easy as it seemed and he knew that.

_Is she pretty?_ Johnny fixed his eyes on her face- her perfect, flawless skin, her deep brown eyes, on the way she moved with such grace and had a certain kindness that reflected in her expression. No, she wasn't pretty. She was drop-dead-gorgeous.

"Oh, hey…is something burning?" Anna asked, looking up just as he was turning away.

He swore loudly and turned the burner off.


	6. Chapter 6 and 7

**And again, it's been a while. I'm sorry- classes and work have me knee deep in boring reallife stuff (poo! Poo!) even now I'm supposed to be writing a twenty page paper on nuclear weapons SIGH. But because it's been so long I have TWO chapters for you instead of one (as an apology). I am so sorry this took me so long to get up! In two weeks I am DONE for the semester and so chapters will hopefully be coming out more readily (this got done because I couldn't get the story out of my head while trying to write on Oppenheimer haha)**

**Thank you for your patience and I hope people are still reading and enjoying the story! **

**Candymen:** There is more of Georgie and Johnny opening up to each other in this chapter = ) the Spixie stuff is about to heat up after these two chapters, you'll see the progression here though = ) thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

**Liz9: **Thanks!!! I always wished that after the Lulu/Dillon thing Georgie would have gotten a harder edge. Spin is going to continue to suspect that something is up with Georgie and that factors into the Spixie stuff! I hope you like!

**QUEENADDEK**: There is some more Claudia in this chapter! I do love those Zibs!! Thanks!!!

**Starbright: **there is a LOT of the fam in this one, especially MAxie and Georgie! Thanks for replying and for the website!

**RedDragen: **Thanks!!!!

**darkhuntress21: **Thanks!! Let me know if you find anymore Georgie and Johnny stuff, please?

**lily94**: LOL! Thanks!!! I love darker Georgie too, and I LOVE the idea of Georgie/Johnny. She is very human and she does screw up a lot but deep down she's still Georgie and wants to do the right thing. Thanks again, and I agree, more Georgie fics needed!

**Poeticgrace: **thanks so much! And I miss Georgie too. What a waste writing her off and now they brought on this Embecca person, strangeness. I loved your glo fic, which I already told you but should be repeated!

**Average Everyday Sane Psycho**: Thanks!! I hope you keep enjoying it!!

**beanybabe324: **Thanks so much! I love Georgie/Johnny too, I just wish there were more fics on them!!

**CGandJaz: **thanks!!

**Kathy0518: **I do plan on continuing! Thanks and more soon (hopefully)!!

I thought I should put in that while there are a lot of characters in this story the only ones I'm really concerned with are Georgie, Johnny, Maxie and Spinelli. Mac, Claudia Dillon, Lulu, Logan and the rest are all supporting characters. They're put into further the story (plus I like the Zibling vibe and I love Mac so they had to be in it). It's picking up now as pieces fall together and the plot surges forward after the next chapter. Build-up is done and it's time for the meat of the story!!

**Chapter Six**

"_Oh no, Maxie. I'm having a great time. We've been engaging in battle all day." _

Maxie looked at the phone, then shook her head, "do I even want to know what that means?" She asked her sister, with a smile.

_"Oh, you know- a battle of the wits…"_

"Well I'm glad you're having fun. Tell her I said hello and that we….oh nevermind, I don't want to meet her. You know your friends always bore me." Maxie looked at Spinelli and made a face when he scowled reproachfully at her. She heard Georgie chuckling.

_"I'm not so sure you'd find this one dull but no worries. You're not going to. So Dillon's there, huh?"_

She could tell that didn't make Georgie happy by the way her voice kind of fell. "Yeah, yeah he is, for now. But say the word Georgie and I will have his freaky haired self flown straight to Turkey, okay?" She covered the phone with her hand and whispered fiercely at Spinelli, "you just had to call him, didn't you?"

He was shaking his head and shrugging before he walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"No, no, no. It will be good to see him, I'm sure of it."

Maxie frowned, "you don't have to, Georgie."

_"How are you handling being snowed in with three very nice guys? You must be going insane."_

Maxie smiled, "oh, I keep myself entertained, you know me. They're just lucky they have me around to make their lives interesting." Maxie stood up and paced the length of the living room, looking at the photos of all their family on the wall. There was Georgie, Mac, Robin and herself everywhere from infant to present. There were picture of Mac and his brother, of Mac and Taggert, there were pictures of Anna, Felicia and even some of Frisco and Tony upon Mac's insistence.

_"Aren't we all, Maxie?"_

Maxie didn't answer right away, but a home wasn't a home without her sister and she felt privileged to have this second chance with her. "God Georgie- I've missed you so much. There were just so many times these last two years when I really needed to hear your voice to really know it was all going to be okay. And yeah, Mac and Spinelli are the world's top men and I'm so lucky to have them but…but they weren't you." Her words were coming out rushed and she knew it but just the same they wouldn't stop and soon tears were coming to. "I never really knew what lonely felt like until you went away."

_"You helped me get through that place, you know? When I didn't think I was ever getting out of there I'd think of you and what you would do. I knew you'd be strong. I knew you'd have the spirit to get out."_

There was a long pause and Maxie couldn't bring herself to speak past the lump in her throat to fill it.

_"I thought about getting back to you to help you stay out of trouble. I was never lonely, Maxie because you talked enough for two lifetimes so that when you weren't there I had a memory always with me. So you were with me the whole time, you and Mac, urging me to free myself. Telling me to be strong and resilient like the two of you."_

Maxie wiped away her tears and sat back down. "We used to fight so much- I always, I felt so guilty about that."

_"Really? Because I look forward to more squabbles. I look forward to it all, Maxie. We wouldn't be us if we didn't. I mean who would I be if I wasn't giving you a hard time?"_

Maxie smiled, "somebody else's sister."

_"Maxie?"_

"Yeah."

_"I love you."_

"I love you too, Georgie. Be safe."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Georgie hung the phone up, eyes wet. She quickly wiped her tears away and took a deep, stabilizing breath. There was so much more she ached to tell Maxie but knew that she couldn't. What happened to her just wasn't something her family needed to know- they hurt enough for her and there was no reason to further that pain. She walked into the main area of the club and walked towards the stage that Johnny was sitting on. He set aside the clip board he had been looking at and gave her a puzzled look. "Did you and your sister fight?"

Georgie smiled and shook her head. "No, no, just the opposite actually. So what's that?" She motioned to the clip board.

"Just an order form. I usually have Dean oversee all of this but Dean is obviously at home with his family and I am here so I thought I'd get it done."

She nodded, "can I help?"

"Can you help me run my club?" He asked with a laugh, "it's incredibly, mind-numbingly dull and long. Remind me to give Dean a raise."

She snatched the clip board from his hands and started scanning it, "wow. Dean's got this well organized. Quite the worker here." She turned the page, "I agree, give this man a raise. Now I'll take the munchies, you take the liquors and lets start counting." She looked up, "and after we're done with our chores it's back to the chess board."

"But you beat me the last two times."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Why don't we pause all this and you tell me something about you that I wouldn't expect. It shouldn't be hard- I know practically nothing about you."

Georgie put a hand on her hip, "fine, I'm a hard worker. There. Your turn."

He gave her a look of exasperation. "I've decided that since you can't be serious about my question I can't be serious about the chores. So lets listen to some music, get out some liquor and play risk."

"Risk? The board game?" Georgie questioned, "I've actually never played that."

"Thank God- now I know I have a chance."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Dr. Ian Devlin had a thing for brunettes, not just any brunette though, he liked his girls trashy too. He never understood why some guys looked for that sweet, innocent virgin to covet. They never knew what to do and they never did talk back. He liked attitude.

Honestly, he preferred his skirts to be on the job.

That wasn't the kind of thing many men liked to admit but he wasn't just some ordinary guy. He could make a trainwreck look like suburban street. He was gifted and he knew it. He didn't save lives, he created new ones for people and he felt that was just as important. To some it was shallow but that was the way of the world, he just played the game and wasn't ashamed to admit it.

His room, a hole in the wall in the center of Cortlandt street, had the faint aroma of the pizza he had just made himself. He sat down on his worn, plaid print couch and put a foot up on the coffee table as he turned the television on. He could afford a larger screen, he could put the money forth to get a new, fancy couch. But he liked his life the way it was and his bank account growing at an exponential rate. In a few years he could buy a wife and live comfortably on some tropical island drinking his life away and maybe writing some book that would make Kerouac look like Donald Trump and Albert Camus look like Kelly Clarkson.

He had a distinct view on reality and had been set in his ways for a good, long time.

The phone rang and he reached over and flipped his cell open. "Devlin."

"_Hey Ian, it's been a while."_

Ah. brunettes, Claudia Zacharra was indeed his favorite. The woman that made trashy the ultimate beauty- she wasn't hooker but everyone had their flaws. He smiled. "Hello there, Gorgeous. How ya been?"

"_I'd be better if I paid you a visit."_

"I'll make it worth your while," he flirted back with a smirk. "So what do you need?"

"Not_hing too serious. I need you to check up on my little brother once the blizzard passes, baby. He's hanging out with a girl- she sounds nice but you know I have to check."_

"I'm not a babysitter, Claudia- unless you want me to be when you visit…"

_"Mmmm, well, maybe. But for now? Check up on my little brother. I'll wire you an obscene amount of money for it."_

"How obscene?"

_"Remember that time in Vegas? How much I spent?"_

"Hmmmm, I remember the after dark show more. But yeah- I remember."

_"That's the first half."_

"I'm in."

He quickly said goodbye and hung up the phone. Johnny Zacharra was about to have a tail and Dr. Devlin was just that much closer to owning his very own island.

He poured himself a scotch and turned the light off, smiling in the dark.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"All this proves is that you're more power hungry than me." Anna told him teasingly as she started putting the pieces of the game away. "I'm just not as interested in world domination as elk from a mob boss. Silly me."

The problem, Johnny realized as he watched with rapt fascination as Anna did the mundane task of putting away pieces to a game was that she was far too complex to understand, too mysterious to ignore, too brilliant to trick, too beautiful not to notice and too nice to use for a one night stand. For any other guy besides himself that wouldn't be a problem, they'd pursue her relentlessly. But he was just screwed in the head enough to not be sure if sex was worth the friendship. "Why are you staring at me?"

He wanted to tell her he had been more precisely staring at her mouth but decided against it. "Are you drunk?"

She laughed, "I'm feeling it. You?"

"Same." He picked the box up and put it on the counter before grabbing two beers and handing her one. "You're not getting bored, are you?"

She shook her head, "you?"

"Not even a little." He took a swig from his beer, "so why aren't you in school, shouldn't this be like your last year in college?"

"Why aren't you?"

He snorted, "oh yes, the college life for me. School bores me and always had. I just know the stuff I read. The only class I ever paid attention in was piano." He moved behind the counter and reached into the cooler for a six pack before heading towards the staircase doors to get upstairs. Anna grabbed a six pack of Smirnoff before following him up. "I was never a good student."

"Too much sitting, not enough gunplay?"

"Something like that." He told her before opening up the door to his apartment and placing his six pack on the coffee table in front of the television. He sat down on the couch and she followed suit, still attentive. "I just never saw the point of learning by just sitting there and having people talk at you. I got that enough at home. I wanted a world where you learned by doing. Maybe that's why I liked working on cars and playing the piano- you don't just sit and listen, you know?"

"I get that." She nodded, "was it really bad at home?"

"Well, I had Claudia." He hedged, "but other then that, yeah, kinda. Then Claudia was gone- I mean it wasn't her fault but that's just the way it was." He shrugged and faced her on the couch. "I missed her a lot after she left, she was kind of the only stability I had."

Anna nodded, and took his hand. "It must have been hard."

He shrugged, "nothing is ever really easy."

"Johnny, aren't you lonely with Claudia gone?" She asked, placing her hands on his knee and looking curiously into his eyes. "I mean sure, you have all those girls but I mean, isn't it hard? No one to talk to regularly. Don't you miss that about being with Lulu?"

He looked past her, swallowing past the lump that was forming in his throat. He was surprised she remembered the name. "Uhm, sometimes I guess."

He wasn't sure what he expected but it wasn't her crawling to his side of the couch and pulling him into a hug. He let her rest there for a while and he smoothed her hair over her head and down her back. She shifted slightly so that she was in the crease between his body and arm, palm on his chest. He laid back as she moved so they could fit comfortably there. Maybe that was why he had been comparing every girl to Lulu and not actually pursued Lulu herself or told her the truth to win her back. He missed companionship, not the girl herself. "I don't feel very lonely now." He whispered, looking down at her face.

"Good." She looked up at him and he had the sudden urge to lean forward and press his mouth to hers. He wondered if she'd pull away and was afraid of the answer. "Tell me, John, tell me what it's been like for you. I want to know."

And so he began.

He started with as far back as he could remember…and went from there, spilling everything until he was empty of his whole childhood, the way his father isolated him from his mother, the angry fits, the violence and his mother's death. "He loved her so much, you know? I didn't…I thought for the longest time when I was little was that was what love meant. And then he killed her- he killed her when he was trying to kill me for loving her too. " Johnny let out a small breath, "and then he tried to do that same thing with me. God, he tried to kill his own daughter so that he could have me all to himself. Sometimes I wonder…I wonder how much of him is in me, you know? I…I…know that isn't what you probably want to hear- that you're isolated in the snow with some psycho.

I get that a little part of you is waiting for a horror movie, here."

"I could handle it if you did."

"I believe you."

"I'm not as fragile as I look." She told him gently, "and I think you're far more fragile then you look." She smiled lightly, "finish telling me, Johnny." She encouraged.

He told her of his crimes as a teenager, the girl who filed rape charges against him, the speeding, the vandalism, the breaking and entering. "I just wanted to feel alive." He talked of his failings as an adult, of all of Lulu's resentment and his father's insanity, of his fear that one day he'll end up like Anthony…

He told her about the drinking and the one night stands. And when he was done, when all that remained was one, dark secret echoing inside his head, he was quiet for a moment, letting her absorb it all. The entire time she had remained in his arms, just listening without commentary, squeezing his hand encouragingly if he stumbled over parts. Then he started telling her everything about his mother that he could remember and how sometimes he'd imagine she was alive so that he could feel warm again.

He talked until she was drifting to sleep.

When she was sleeping soundly his thoughts went back to what he had told her. Having said the words, how he talked about everything that ached inside he felt a little lighter. And maybe, he thought, that was why she had wanted to hear it.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"So—quick question, Spinelli." Dillon jumped the back of the couch and sat down next to Spinelli with an eager look on his face. "what have you been up to in the last couple years? I mean you're living here, with Maxie. You spend all your time with Maxie and really, last time I heard you and she barely got along."

Spinelli begrudgingly put his computer aside, "Georgie's death brought us together. We were searching for the Wise One's killer."

"Diego." Dillon stated.

Spinelli nodded, "I think it's strange that Diego was dead and yet Georgie was still a captive. Don't you?" Spinelli asked suddenly, "and she never talks about it, either. I wonder where she was after he died?"

Dillon looked straight ahead, trying to figure it out as well but no scenario, even for a movie, came up as plausible. "Are you trying to research that? Is that what you're doing right now?"

Spinelli put his computer back on his lap. "I tried to track how Georgie returned to the country. From what little she said is that they held her in Mexico. But she's never stated a town. In fact, thanks to Mac, she's given very little background on how Diego kept her or anything. There's no real investigation either. It's all really, really odd."

"So I take it you're not riding the Maxie and Mac joy train of what they want to be real is real?"

Spinelli shook his head, "they're trying to be supportive. They don't want the Wise One pressured at all. Which I get, you know? She's been through a trauma and the last thing she needs is for us all asking what happened while she was away." He took a deep breath, "but they have to know something isn't right. The Commish and The Brazen Blonde One aren't dumb."

"I didn't think about it either until you said she was never around." Dillon put in thoughtfully, "I was riding that joy train for all it was worth. But more then anything, Georgie is reliable. She would be here with her family." Dillon asserted, looking Spinelli square in the face. "The fact that she isn't tells me something is very, very wrong."

"Something is wrong." Spinelli agreed, "she's hiding something, a lot of somethings."

"No." Dillon shook his head, "you're making it sound like she's hiding something bad, something that could get her into trouble."

"No, no, no, no..." Spinelli waved put his laptop aside, shutting it but before he could finish Maxie entered his field of vision.

"You…think my sister did something wrong?" She asked in a cold, angry voice. She cast a withering glance at Dillon then turned back to Spinelli, "you think you're going to uncover it? Is that what's going on?"

"Maximista-"

"Why? Lets say, hypothetically, that Georgie is hiding something very, very bad." She crossed the room, putting as much distance between herself and Spinelli as possible. "Why do you want to know? Are you going to turn her in? And lets say you do- after what she's been through already, is that really fair?"

"To _be_ fair, Maxie," Dillon responded quietly, "we don't know what happened to her, do we? No one does."

"And that's her right to keep it a secret!" She blasted him before crossing her arms over her chest, "don't you think her freedom and privacy were stolen for too long as it is?"

They glanced at each other before Spinelli spoke up, "We want to know so we can help her."

"Help her." Maxie repeated, "help her. Right. Well, Spinelli, maybe if you wanted to help her you wouldn't have called Lulu and Dillon- the two that sent her right into Diego's arms in the first place. Or." A chilling smile appeared on her lips, "maybe you could have seen past your stupid, epic love for that shrew and looked at the beautiful, giving Georgie who thought you hung the moon."

"Maxie," Dillon started with exaggerated patience, "I thought you had gotten past this anger-"

"That was before my sister came back needing my protection." She interrupted curtly, "so either you stop this insane investigation into my sister or I dismantle both of your lives piece by piece." She whirled around and stomped up the steps.

Spinelli let out a sigh, "that went well."

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_"You look beautiful Georgie."_

_She looked down at her red dress and around the magically decorated prom and then back to Diego who was smiling at her like she was the only girl in the room. _

_She nodded, stepping forward. There was a fist of fear in her stomach as he took her into his arms but she went anyway, looking around as her fellow students shifted and shimmered. She looked into Diego's eyes, fixed there, unable to see the killer she knew was there. But she saw nothing and the fear grew until she looked away, finding herself in a room with graying walls, cracks in the paint and small bed._

"_Diego, you saved me!" The words came out as she tried to hold them back. It sickened her as she welcomed his embrace, holding him tightly. When she pushed him away slightly, she stopped and he pushed a tendril of her hair back. "Thank you."_

"_I'd do anything for you, Georgianna Jones." He told her warmly._

_Georgie screamed inside as his mouth descended, as her mouth responded to his. _

"**Anna, wake up, ANNA!"**

Georgie woke with a start, grabbing onto Johnny with a gasp of breath and burying her head between his shoulder and neck. He was warm. Tears streaked down her cheeks and onto his skin and he held her tighter. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Anna. But you were thrashing, like you were locked in something and so I thought it might be better if I woke you up…"

She let go of him and met his gaze. "Thank you."

"Anna, is there anything I can do?"

She swallowed hard and nodded, "yeah, yes. Please could you just…not leave me alone tonight?"

"No, no…Of course I won't. Tell you the truth, I didn't really want to sleep all by myself either. How about I make us a midnight snack and a nightcap, hmm? Then we can fall asleep listening to some Chopin. It will be soothing."

She nodded and he stepped into the kitchen to make the food and their drinks. "Head up to my room, Anna," He called in, "and I'll be up in a moment."

She did in a hurry and walked into his room, rounding the bed so that she was staring out at the snow covered world from his balcony window. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to look at his handsome face, slightly startled but easily hid it having had to practice for so long. "Did you know that you can actually see when a person is hollow?"

"How do you mean?"

She searched for the words, "when someone is so damaged that you can see it in their faces. When they've been hollowed out of who they were. You can see it. Something in their manner, in their speech, in their walk and their expression. Monsters…they aren't just born. They're made. I've seen it, you know?" She looked away from him and then looked back. "Someone who has carved the insides into what they want them to be. God, it's so painful to see. It's so ugly."

"Anna…" He shook his head in confusion

"When you look into my eyes, what do you see?"

He smoothed her hair back from her face, eyes scanning her countenance. "You wouldn't believe me if I said it."

She stared at him, feeling sorrow begin to take her. Nothing. He saw nothing and he didn't want to say it. She had been hollowed out and he knew it as well as she did, the thought echoed in her mind angrily. "I…I'm sorry. You must be freaking out, huh? I'm acting insane." She tried to pull away from him and retreat. She felt guilty, letting him hold her like this when in the end she wasn't even telling him her name. It wasn't fair. "John," she tugged a little to get free but he wasn't letting go.

"When I first saw you I thought of a volcano. All that destruction and tragedy- I could feel it radiate off you like it does me." He touched her cheek, eyes moving over her face slowly as if memorizing every detail. "The volcano erupts, lava destroys everything in its path. But that lava, it cools, Anna. When it does…it makes this volcanic glass, a precious stone called obsidian. It's beautiful, black with flakes of white. And over that there's ash- and that ash covers the world and it makes disaster kind of look like peace." His smile shone mostly in his eyes and that was rare for him, he reached over, tucking her hair behind her ear. Georgie felt vulnerable under his stare, like he was seeing right through to every last secret. She looked away, she had to, the truth was too ugly, even for Johnny, to look at. "No, please, don't turn away."

She slowly dragged her gaze back to his. "I…."

"When I look at you, what else am I supposed to think of besides poetry and music? You're the mysterious woman in every story. I am certain men would write symphonies for you and operas about you." He kept her gaze locked in his, "you're a muse."

"And you're terrifyingly charming." She replied sheepishly, trying to keep her emotions under control but failed in doing so, "very dangerous and also very damaged. I tried to save a guy like that once."

"Oh?"

She nodded, staring off into the distance. "But he had been hollowed from the inside. Someone had hurt him so badly that he changed from the guy I cared about to someone it hurt to look at. They just emptied him of who he was and filled it with who they were."

She felt Johnny stroke her hair, his smooth fingers felt good on her skin and she smoothed the front of her fingers against arm. "Is that what you see when you look at me? Do you see him?"

"No…" she whispered softly, "but he was different then you. He didn't need the adrenaline to feel alive. In the end he didn't even want to be alive." She swallowed hard before meeting his gaze head on. "I don't see him when I see you. I see him when I look in the mirror." A tear rolled down her cheek, "because underneath that glass and that ash is decay, John. That's all there is. That's all they left of me."

"You don't want to be alive either?"

She took a deep breath, "I think death is the only thing I'm not afraid of anymore."

"I'm scared stupid of death." He told her quietly, "I've never really admitted it fully to anyone but I am. And I want, so desperately, to prove to myself, to death, to life, to whatever that I'm not afraid. I challenge it, I'm always challenging it...fast cars, jumping off cliffs and roofs…sky diving…mass quantities of alcohol…and other drugs too…" He shook his head, "I'm trying so hard to prove that I'm not a coward, I guess. But you- you don't seem scared like you say you are. Sad, lonely, hurt but not afraid."

"I am though." She whispered, "I'm terrified. Because I know, I know that monsters are real. And worse…I think I've become one." Georgie let the tears go, "and I can't…I can't let my sister see that 'cuz…" She swallowed, "because I've already let her down. I left her, just like everyone else did and I know I didn't mean to but…but I can't ever…ever let her down again."

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

"There is nothing wrong with Georgie." Maxie told her reflection quietly.

_"You can't give up Maxie, please. You have to fight." Georgie begged, tears in her eyes as she clutched her sister's hand tightly._

_Maxie swallowed, feeling so desperately tired and lost. "I tried. It's my heart, it's just tired. Georgie, a pink box under my bed…"_

_She was nodding, "Yeah? What about it?" wiping her face, Georgie looked down then back at her. _

"_It has our to do lists in it." Maxie told her throatily, "it's your turn now."_

_She could see the pain in Georgie's eyes as she spoke, the determination that everything was going to be okay was there as well. "No, those are ours. The things we have to do together."_

"_You have to be the one-"_

"_Maxie please-," Georgie's tears began to fall and her voice was choked and wrought with emotion, "Maxie, I wouldn't even begin to know where to look for a unicorn. Please…"_

_She smiled, "you'll figure it out."_

"Are you alright, Maxie?" Mac asked, poking his head through the door.

She turned around and smiled at him, "yeah- I was just remembering when…when we thought I was going to die…when I was saying goodbye to Georgie."

Mac stepped forward and touched her cheek. "But you didn't die."

"And neither did she." Maxie whispered, smiling. "And I'm never going to let anything happen to her again."

Mac pulled her into a hug, "you don't need to take that hardship on yourself, sweetie." When she pulled away, she sat on the bed and he sat down next to her. "I know how hard this has been on you, I know how guilty you felt after we thought Georgie died. And I am going to tell you again- it wasn't your fault, it shouldn't have been you and you're my beautiful daughter that I love just as much as Georgie and just as much as Robin."

Maxie started shaking her head, "I'm her older sister, I'm supposed to protect her and I never did. I never did, Dad. I always just…looked out for myself."

"That's not true." He told her softly, "you know, she loved you and she thought the two of you had a special connection. She always felt that way, Maxie. And you know, she's right. Without you Georgie never would have been Georgie- when the two of you were just tiny she'd follow you everywhere. You'd get so annoyed," he chuckled, "but she learned so much from you."

"Like how not to be?" Maxie deadpanned.

"No." He frowned, "like how to dance and how to make people laugh. You loved her enough so that she didn't think about Felicia disappearing and Frisco never being around."

"You taught us that."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," he argued, "and that's the big problem, Maxie. It's why you always end up doing something bad- to make up for something you think you lack. But you don't lack anything." He smiled at her, "and Georgie, she doesn't lack anything either. You're both, well, you're both made to be sisters. That's all. And that's why she came back to us, it's just how it's meant to be."

Maxie let out a small sigh, content for that moment. He was right, it made too much sense for him to be wrong. Maybe she and Georgie were meant to be siblings and were not meant to be permanently separated, maybe that was the reason she got a new heart. "Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime, kiddo."

**Chapter Seven**

Anna had fallen asleep in his arms the night before but when Johnny woke, she was gone. How she had wiggled from his embrace and out the door without him stirring was a mystery but he was getting used to that. When he blinked the sleep away he saw the note on the pillow next to him. He picked it up and blinked his eyes into focus, trying also to clear the fog from his head.

He turned over and his hand fell on a stray piece of paper on his pillow. He crumpled it accidentally as he rose to a seated position to look at it.

_John_

_I'm sorry I left without a goodbye but I had to get home. Thank you for allowing me to stay with you. You were a great shelter from the cold._

_Yours,_

_ Anna_

He smiled at the shortness of the letter and what was unsaid in it but implied so beautifully. _You were a great shelter from the cold._ Not his home, not the warmth of the blankets. But him.

It arose a giddiness inside him that he never thought he'd feel again. He found himself bending over to smell the letter, he examined the beautiful lettering and finally the signature. He ran his fingers over it and smiled, relaxed and calm for the first time in a long, long time. When the phone rang he reached over for it absently, still looking at the piece of paper.

"Hello?"

"_We need to talk."_

It was Spinelli, Johnny held in a sigh and put the paper aside. "Do we? I don't see what we need to talk about. Are you even on a secure line?"

"_The Jackal would never-"_

"Cut the Spinelli-speak." Johnny interrupted impatiently, "and tell me what it is you think we need to talk about."

"_Someone has been going through the Jackal's most secret computer files, or, at least, someone has tried to hack their way in. It could be nothing but it could be something."_

"The Jackal," Johnny said acidly, "better get better firewalls then, hadn't he?"

_There was a pause, "I'm worried." It was panicked._

"Then check it out, I'm no warrior in cyberspace, Spinelli. I'm a thug. You get the information and I find a way to solve the problem in a more tangible fashion. Right? So do what you're supposed to do because if you don't- if this all gets out- your pal is dead, your little girlfriend is going to dump you for lying to her and the nice, pretty little life I've been building myself is going to go down the damn drain."

"_Stonecold could most certainly take on any assailant-"_

"Just…shut up about him. Okay? Your obsession borders on homoerotic so just make-out and get it over with,. Just erase any files on him, like I asked you to do a million years ago and make sure you don't get hacked. Is that really so difficult?"

"_No."_

"Then hop to- and try not to call here again. We don't need to be connected for any reason."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When Dillon awoke there was a creaking in the floor of the kitchen. He heard it through the door. But it wasn't the sound that awoke him. It was the nightmare that had possessed his mind cruelly while he slept. The actual events escaped him, but the fear struck him so strongly that he sat up like a board, beads of sweat running down his forehead still lingering. He ran a hand through his hair and looked around the still living room, the dvd that he had fallen asleep to had returned to the music on the menu screen and it looped, over and over until he managed to get enough wits to turn it off. Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he swung his feet to the floor and yawned heavily. It had to be early.

Then he heard the sound again before the door swung open and he was staring at Georgie Jones.

She looked different. Her hair was longer and she was dangerously thin but she was still beautiful- he didn't think anything could change that, even in her baggy sweats and the little tank she wore as pajamas before him, she wasgorgeous. Partly in respect he stood in her presence, as though revering her. It felt like she should be worshipped then, like some angel returning from a treacherous battle with demons. She looked unearthly. "I love you."

It wasn't what he had planned to say. He had prepared a speech of a kind, a confession of how he had missed her, of how poorly he felt for treating her so badly and how important she was to him, to everyone. But it had all left his memory the moment she appeared. "You really remember how to greet a girl."

"It was your greeting that brought us together," he reminded her with a smile, "the kiss that changed my life."

"How have you been?"

He shrugged, "I've been in film school, I've been making films, I've been…Georgie, I just can't believe you're really here, for so long I…no, no, it doesn't matter, none of that matters because you're alive."

She took in a deep breath, as if she trying to find the courage to say something but then snapped her mouth shut and smiled, "Dillon, nothing should be changing in your life because of this- okay? I mean, just try and pretend that I was here all along, living my life as Georgie Jones. I think you'll be better off this way." Her tone was casual and she walked over to the chair and sat down, looking up at him. "So tell me, how is film school going?"

"We can't just…pretend like nothing happened."

"Sure we can," she urged, a strange expression crossing her face. "pretend it's a movie, make it into one in your head. Pretend we talked just last week and I told you how I loved changing my major to Journalism. Helping Pete with that book really inspired me and you told me about some class you have to take but it has nothing to do with your major so it's just…it's just frustrating."

Her voice was so conversational, it sounded like she always had sounded and so he sat down and he just stared at her for a minute. "I do have a class like that," he said with uncertainty. "It's this completely absurd advanced trig class that's just worthless but they deem it necessary."

She was nodding, bringing her legs up onto the chair and sitting Indian style, leaning backwards and looking very comfortable and small. "but the film classes all but make up for it?"

"Yeah." He replied, "Georgie, tell me what's really happened to you these last two years. Don't make up some happy, normal life. We both know that isn't what happened."

"Georgie, you're home. I thought I heard your voice." Maxie practically stumbled down the stairs but managed a graceful landing regardless and took her sister into a hug. When she whirled around to look at Dillon, she was glaring at him. "As you can see, Dillon's visiting."

"Yeah," Georgie bit her lip, "so I've seen."

"So did you have fun with your friend?"

Georgie nodded, "yeah, yeah, she's great. I had a really, really great time, actually." She smiled at Maxie, "I didn't know being snowed in could be so much fun."

"Georgie and I were just discussing something interesting," Dillon told Maxie pointedly, glancing sideways at his former wife. There was something wrong, avoidance wasn't Georgie's way, she faced things head on. Something was off and Dillon decided Maxie needed to understand that if Georgie was going to get the help she needed. "She thinks we should just pretend we never thought she was dead."

Maxie's brow furrowed and she glanced at her sister, "what do you mean?"

She cleared her throat, "everything just seems so needlessly complicated, Maxie, don't you think?" Georgie coaxed in a matter-of-factly voice, "I mean, everything is so messy, just as it was before Diego took me and now it's worse that I'm back. It's just…too much for me to take in. I need some slack here, I need a break, you know?"

Dillon watched Georgie's expression carefully, it seemed sincere enough but then why did he feel like he was staring at a stranger? The conversational tone from earlier had been broken, that comfort gone. She was different. He stopped himself and did a mental shake. Of course she was different. She had been a hostage for years. She had probably been hurt very badly, no one came back from that the same. But was Spinelli right to think it was as serious as he thought it was? "Of course you need a break," Maxie was saying with exaggerated patience, "which is actually why I'm so angry Spinelli invited Dillon and Lulu back to begin with."

"Wait, Lulu is coming back?" Dillon asked instantly. From the corner of his eye he saw Georgie retreat closer to Maxie and he instantly regretted the eagerness in his tone. He fought to salvage the situation. "What I mean is…why would she come back? She and Georgie weren't close."

"No, they weren't." Maxie agreed through clenched teeth.

Georgie wet her lips, "oh, you know, Spin, he was just overly zealous. It always gets him into trouble. It's fine, Maxie. They're no trouble." A sardonic, bitter smile crossed her lips. "It will just be like old times."

"Lovely," Maxie grimaced, "because the old times were so great."

"They were," Georgie told her sister with a smile and a squeeze of the hand, "but now I think we should focus on breakfast. Lets surprise Mac with something delicious that lacks any kind of nutrition."

Maxie beamed, "that sounds like a brilliant plan."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Spinelli hung up the phone feeling no better about the situation then he had before Johnny said hello. He was alone. Completely and utterly alone. Who else could he talk about it with? Certainly not Maxie.

He groaned and leaned back against the wall, hitting his head off it. Maxie whom he had been lying too all this time, Maxie who tried to comfort him when he was grieving Jason. What would she do if she found out it was all a lie? That he had taken her comfort despite having no real grief?

It was a mess.

She wouldn't care that he had to keep it a secret, instead she would just wonder why he didn't trust her. And why didn't he trust her, why hadn't he told her? Because Jason asked him not to. Jason. Who had the love of his life. Jason. Who was free. Jason who had abandoned him.

It wasn't like Spinelli to feel this bitter, especially in regard to his best friend. After all, Jason had given him a home for so long, made him feel accepted like he had never felt before. Jason, Georgie, Maxie, Lulu and Sam had always been there for him. Now Mac too. He should feel lucky not angry.

But that resentment was creeping into his consciousness like some vile poison attacking his synapses. It felt like a computer virus was taking root in his skull and he didn't have the software or technology to remove it. If only Johnny would talk about it with him. But that was a dead end, he was stubborn as a mule and far too happy with his current lifestyle to want to delve into the past.

But Spinelli couldn't run from the past. It haunted him. It plagued him like an endless nightmare and now that wise Georgie was back from the dead it was like hardly any time had passed at all. Her return brought him nothing but worry and concern- for her, for the secrets he kept, for his fair Maximista…would it ever end? Would he ever get his happy ending?

His IM dinged and he looked down at it.

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: What's shaking, Jackal?**_

Lulu. He smiled at the IM name he had given her that she still used. It brought him slight peace right then.

_**TheJackal: Nothing. **_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: You're awake early.**_

_**TheJackal: Can't sleep.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: What's wrong?**_

_**TheJackal: I'm just thinking about things.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: Like Georgie or Maxie?**_

_**TheJackal: Both, kind of. And how tenuous our lives really are. How easily things can be taken away.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: I get that. Things must be crazy there.**_

_**TheJackal:They are. How are you?**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: Good. Really good. I'll be up to visit as soon as I can**_

_**TheJackal: I'm looking forward to it.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: How is Georgie?**_

_**TheJackal: I don't know. She says she's alright.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: But…?**_

_**TheJackal: But I just don't think she is. I think there's something terribly wrong.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: Of course there is. She was held captive for two years. That has to have some effect.**_

_**TheJackal: Yeah, yeah. Of course. I wish she would go to therapy or something. Why isn't the Wise One being so wise?**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: Maybe she's showing her Maxie genes.**_

_**TheJackal: Please stop.**_

_**TheBlondeOne_LL: Okay. Well I have to go to work. Talk to you later!**_

_**TheJackal: Bye.**_

Spinelli shut his laptop and sighed heavily. Maybe eh should start deleting all those files, maybe the time had come to try and put the past behind him. The first way to do that was to erase all evidence…and make it like Jason Morgan was really dead.

He laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, it felt like his best friend was truly dying this time.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"_Your saving my family's life." Jason told him in a quiet, humble voice. It was the first time Johnny had seen that coldness melt, the first time the stones fell and Morgan looked like a human being. "We're even."_

_Johnny gave him a curt nod, knowing what he meant. Sonny Corinthos' madness had almost took them all hostage, threatening to destroy not just himself and his children but Jason, his family and Johnny and his. If it wasn't for Morgan's need to keep his child safe, Johnny knew he'd be dead for killing Corinthos. But if anything happened to Johnny Claudia let Morgan know, in no uncertain terms, that everything he loved would be laid to waste. Some people thought it cruel but cruelty was just a perception. This world wasn't like the regular world, death walked and talked as though it was everyone's best friend. "Never come home."_

"_This isn't my home." He answered._

_Johnny turned to Elizabeth. She was beautiful but her large eyes held a tragedy he wouldn't soon forget. He was about to turn away before she snatched his hand and held it, looking deeply into his eyes. "This life, your life, my choices, they are taking me from my family, from my home, from my friends, from everything I have always dreamed about. I love my sons and I love Jason- so I no longer have a choice. I am going to leave. But you, you have a choice Johnny. Walk away. Don't let this life eat you from the inside out."_

_Her eyes seemed to be searching his face and he responded as warmly as he could, "thank you for the advice."_

_She let go of his hand, nodding before looking to Jason. Finally the couple turned, walking towards the car that would take them out of the city. She turned back one last time and looked into his eyes. "Thank you."_

"_You're welcome."_

Johnny clasped his hands and put them underneath his head, staring at the ceiling, lost in his memories as he wondered exactly what happened to the beautiful nurse whom had the misfortune of falling for a mobster. What a sad story she must have had. Did she miss her home? Had Jason been worth it?

Somehow he didn't think so.

But he didn't think his freedom was worth the absence of power, or at least, sometimes he thought that. But then he didn't have love to accompany him as she did. Perhaps Jason could kiss all her regrets away. But he doubted it. Some still had to linger. He wondered if having Jake was worth it, essentially that was the real reason she _had_ to leave. It had become common knowledge that Jake was Jason's and so he was in constant danger. She left for him. Did she resent that Jason was that little boy's father?

Did Lulu ever regret being with him? And he knew, even before the process of his thinking began, that it was eventually going to end up back at Lulu. Jason and Lulu were forever intertwined in his mind. It was her thinking he had killed Jason, not Sonny, that was the real nail in their coffin. She knew that Sonny's demise had been eminent. His madness was taking its toll so violently that few could deny that action had to be taken. When Lulu thought of him now, was it with regret that she had even uttered his name?

He knew why he was wondering. It wasn't because he regretted leaving the business or the family. It wasn't even really because of Lulu either. It was Anna. Her face was burning in his mind. She knew of his past, she knew it could still come to haunt him. Why would she even think of looking twice at him as anything more then 'shelter from the cold'? Why would she ever want _him_?

He turned on his side, expression shuddered. She wouldn't. Of course she wouldn't.

Who the hell would want him for more then a night?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Mac smiled contentedly, "this was the best breakfast I think I've had in years." He told his daughters who were smiling back at him. Dillon, Maxie noticed with disdain, wasn't smiling and Spinelli, who had joined the party late, didn't look like sunshine and happiness either. Georgie took the last bite of her sausage and leaned her head on her father's shoulder and Mac smiled at her, "you look happier then you did before the storm," He noted.

"I enjoyed myself, I had a lot of fun." She confessed, eyes sparkling, "I felt…normal again."

"I'm glad." Maxie replied, "maybe snow storms should come more often. We had a good time too."

"Well, since the girls did all the cooking, I think us guys should clean up." Mac announced, getting up. "I never want to be accused of being sexist- especially not when I only have girls." He laughed and kissed the daughter on each side of him on the cheek. They smiled and started towards the living room and then up the stairs.

"Hey, come here. I have a shirt that will look phenomenal on you, Georgie." Maxie told her sister, motioning towards her bedroom. Georgie followed and Maxie reached into her closet, pulling out a half-shirt with fringe falling down over the lower part that would only partially cover her front and back.

Georgie took into her hands and made a face, "this definitely isn't the real reason you wanted me to come in here. You wouldn't even wear this."

Chuckling, Maxie sat down on the bed. "Well no, but we need to talk."

"About?"

"About how you can _not_date Dillon." Maxie told her vehemently. "I know, after I thought you were dead I softened on him- okay, I was soft on him a lot. But no more. He is not the guy for you- especially not after he slept with that pathetic blonde bimbo Lulu. She's not smart. She's not funny. She has no sense of fashion…I just don't see what guys see in her."

Georgie gave her a half-smile, "who knows what's going to happen, Maxie. But I don't think Dillon and I are getting back together. I've…changed a lot and…so have my tastes."

Maxie sucked in a breath, "so no you and Dillon?"

Gerogie shrugged.

"And Spinelli?" Maxie asked then, trying to look hopeful but knowing it wasn't coming across just right. She needed Georgie to be happy and she knew that Spinelli could make her happy. After all, he was smart, funny, cute…

"No." Georgie shook her head firmly, interrupting her sister's thoughts. "I am not going after Damian Spinelli, Maxie. My tastes," she repeated with a note of finality in her voice, "have changed."

"Unacceptable." The word reverberated through Maxie's head. She stood up and kept her eyes level to Georgie's, "he's perfect for you, especially right now when you need someone who can help you through this. This is everyone's chance to get things right, Georgie! You get Spinelli, Dillon gets to die alone and Lulu is stuck with that awful, disgusting creep Logan."

"And you?" Georgie asked quietly. "I get that you feel bad. I get that you think you were a bad sister- Maxie, you weren't. Sisters fight. We have to fight, it's our duty. Were you always a paragon of virtue? No. But you're you and I love you and I always will. So stop acting stepford. You don't want me with Spinelli, Maxie." She took a deep breath, her face a mask of shadows. For the first time Maxie wondered if maybe Spinelli was right, maybe there was something wrong with her sister. The darkness in her eyes, it just hadn't been there before. She quickly banished the thought. Georgie was honest, if something was really wrong she would say something. "You don't want me with him because you're in love with him." For a second she thought Georgie had punched her in the stomach. She just stared at her. Georgie stared back, nonplussed and completely calm. "You think you want me to be with Spinelli because you think he's the best and you think, after everything I've been through, that I deserve the best. I appreciate that, I do and I know it comes from a good place. But Maxie. You're stupid."

"I-I'm what?"

"Dumb. Dim-witted. Not the sharpest tool in the shed." She went on, tilting her head to the side, "you'd have to be to think for one second I could be happy for even a second knowing that my sister was in love with my boyfriend-"

"I am not-"

"But you are," Georgie interrupted and took her sister's hand in both of hers. "Maxie, I may be a little self-involved right now but I'd have to be deaf and blind not to notice the way you look at him, talk to him and talk about him."

Maxie was struck dumb, her mind couldn't keep up with what Georgie was saying. "But you were in love with him." Was all she managed to get out.

"No," Georgie shook her head, "I was in love with Dillon, I had a crush on Spinelli. I thought he was sweet and smart and funny. I also thought it was stupid how he kept twisting himself around to try and impress Lulu. But MAxie- I was never in love with him."

"Oh."

"And he's madly in love with you."

Maxie fell back onto the bed into a seating position and looked up at her, "what the hell am I supposed to do?"

She chuckled and sat down next to her, "I think it's what some people call a date."

"Oh."

"And then you guys should probably make-out a little."

Macie laughed a little, closing her eyes. "I was about to make a really big mess out of everything, wasn't I?"

"Oh yeah," She agreed with a smile, "and part of me wanted to just sit back and watch it all happen for the mere sake of entertainment." Georgie looked askance at her sister with mischief, "but then I had a crisis of conscience and did the Georgie thing."

"Like always."

Her smile faded and she looked down at the atrocity of a shirt Maxie had handed to her, "no, no…not always."

**Let me know what you think!!**


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